Al-Qassam Brigades release exclusive footage of late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar

Shafaq News/ For the first time, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement, have released exclusive footage featuring the late political bureau chief Yahya Sinwar, who was killed on October 16, 2024, by the Israeli army, documenting his leadership role in military operations before his death.

The video, aired last Friday during the "What is Hidden is Greater" program on Al Jazeera, sparked widespread reactions among Arab audiences on social media.

The footage included secret documents, among them the operations order signed by Yahya Sinwar on October 5, 2023, which set the attack time at 06:30 AM on October 7, two days before the operation.

The documents also contained precise directives to target key Israeli military bases such as "Yiftah," "Nahal Oz," and "Kissufim."

The footage showed Sinwar on the ground leading military operations against Israeli forces advancing in Rafah and other areas of the Gaza Strip. The scenes depicted Sinwar moving between ambushes, boosting the morale of Al-Qassam fighters, and supervising planning operations with the commander of the "Tel Sultan" battalion in Rafah, Mahmoud Hamdan, who was later killed.

In another scene, Sinwar appeared on the front lines watching an Israeli military vehicle that had been targeted and disabled in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah. The footage also showed precise surveillance operations conducted by Al-Qassam Brigades along the entire border before "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation.

Widespread Arab Reactions

The video gained significant traction on social media, with Palestinian and Arab users sharing clips of Sinwar reciting the verse: "And for the red freedom, a door, with every blood-stained hand it is knocked."

Sinwar borrowed this verse from the poem "The Catastrophe of Damascus" by the famous late Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqi, written in 1926 in protest against the brutal French bombing of Damascus during the Great Syrian Revolt.

Social media activists discussed the verse, saying it symbolizes the struggle and sacrifice for freedom, with "red" meaning it is only achieved through blood. They emphasized Sinwar's status as a "field commander and influential figure in the Palestinian resistance."

Commenting on the video, the Israeli army issued a statement describing the report as an attempt to beautify the image of the "terrorist" (as they termed him), considering the video an effort to present the Hamas leader as a "symbol of struggle."