The mastermind of Hamas terrorism

The Israel-Hamas war is entering its 10th month, and no end seems near, precisely because Hamas continues to reject various reasonable cease-fire and hostage deals, including the latest Biden administration–backed proposal. While any logical reasoning suggests that Hamas must work diligently and cooperate to reach an agreement to help the Palestinians, this is not the way the terrorist group operates. After all, when its terrorists launched the horrific Oct. 7, 2023 attack—massacring more than 1,200 people and brutally seizing hundreds of innocent Israeli and international hostages—they must have anticipated that Israel wouldn’t stand still. They had to have realized that many Palestinian lives would be lost.

But do Hamas’ leaders really care much about the lives of the Palestinian people? It doesn’t seem so.

The mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attack is Yahya Sinwar, who the United States designates as a terrorist. We now know some aspects of what he thinks, partly through an exclusive report published in The Wall Street Journal that featured messages that Sinwar reportedly sent to Arab Muslim leaders and mediators who have been seeking to facilitate the reaching of a deal between Hamas and Israel. According to the Journal, Sinwar’s messages revealed that he doesn’t want a deal with Israel because “more fighting—and more Palestinian civilian deaths—work to his advantage.”

As shocking as this statement sounds, it shouldn’t surprise anyone based on all we have witnessed from Hamas terrorists. Still, these leaked messages are significantly important as they bring the world closer to realizing the evil goals and vile tactics of Hamas and its leader.

From Sinwar’s messages, as reported by the Journal, we can glean three major revelations.

First, in his early messages, Sinwar praised the Oct. 7 attacks and the bravery of his fellow Muslims against the Jews but asserted that “things went out of control,” as he referred “to gangs taking civilian women and children as hostages.” This statement indicates that the Hamas attack was executed haphazardly, with very little care for human lives. The attackers mainly sought to snatch all the people they could, swiftly and quickly, to gain leverage to force Israel into later negotiations. Sinwar poorly calculated the scope or the depth of both the attack and the Israeli response. In his immature unskilled planning, human lives seem to have had no significance whatsoever. There is also the question of whether Sinwar’s explanation contains truth.

Second, the messages showed Sinwar’s commitment to Islam and its prophet. In describing his aspiration to imitate “pious Muslims” among Muhammad’s relatives, Sinwar depicted himself largely as an unstoppable hero who defends Islam, even in pursuing and welcoming martyrdom. When some Arab Muslim leaders messaged him to work toward peace negotiations with the Israelis to prevent the bloodshed of numerous Palestinians, Sinwar reportedly insisted, “We have to move forward on the same path we started.” To explain his unrelenting determination, he added, “Or let it be a new Karbala.” He was referring to a battle that occurred in 680 in Karbala, a town in today’s Iraq, in which Muslims fought against each other. It was a brutal civil war that included Muslims killing Muhammad’s grandson. Here, Sinwar appears to view himself as a hero working for Islam’s goals, presenting himself as a soldier ready for martyrdom like Muhammad’s grandson. But to any knowledgeable historian, Sinwar didn’t really know what he was talking about. His understanding of the historical incident seemed very misguided, as the battle itself was a civil war between Muslims. He merely referred to the incident to invoke sentiments and religious zeal. He used religious slogans and words to his benefit while he revealed no respect for the lives of Palestinian civilians.

Third, Sinwar’s messages emphasized the severe internal conflict among the Palestinian leaders. Many in the West don’t recognize that the Palestinians are in huge disagreement among themselves over control, power, and leadership—a fact that now plays a substantial role in prolonging the war against Israel. The Hamas leaders of Gaza are in vehement disagreement with the official Palestinian Authority in the West Bank under President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah. Hamas explicitly seeks the annihilation of Israel, while Fatah is open, at least in theory, to two-state negotiations.

Sinwar’s messages showed clearly his unwillingness to cooperate with Fatah. When some Arab leaders arranged a meeting to discuss reconciliation between leaders from Hamas and Fatah, Sinwar called the gathering shameful, saying, “As long as fighters are still standing and we have not lost the war, such contacts should be immediately terminated.” He added that “we have the capabilities to continue fighting for months.” Sinwar clearly wants to carry on the war without any care for the bloodshed of his own people, as more fighting and more deaths serve his evil agenda. When many uninformed people take to the streets in the United States to support Hamas and claim that Israel is the only agent responsible for continued war, Sinwar’s messages should serve as proof that they are flat wrong.