Now, Israel is in damage control mode, releasing older photos and videos of Sinwar hiding in tunnels with stashes of money in an attempt to portray the Hamas leader as a selfish man who only ever cared for himself

That Sinwar died not in a carefully coordinated raid but in a chance encounter on a routine patrol, the IDF official said, was a testament to Israel’s military strategy, tightening the vise on Hamas’s last redoubts in the south and allowing soldiers to capitalize on his “mistake” when he emerged from the tunnels

The circumstances of his death don’t change the fact that Sinwar spent “95 percent” of the past year underground, the official said
“Obviously, this didn’t reflect the true nature of his behavior throughout the war” the official said

On Sunday, to help drive home that point, the IDF released footage of Sinwar entering a tunnel with his family a day before the October 7 attacks last year

But that is not the image many Palestinians are likely to remember

In Ramallah, the West Bank city controlled by Fatah, Hamas’s main political rival, Faisal Sayid, 60 was watching the news at a cafe the morning after Sinwar’s death was announced

Sinwar was “not hiding as a coward as the Israelis were saying” he said, “Sinwar was at the top of his game and fighting” and his final fight would “go down in history”

The main audience Israeli officials were thinking of when they released the materials was the Israeli public, according to a person close to Israel’s senior security leadership, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter

Sinwar was Israel’s No. 1 enemy and officials felt it was important to provide immediate and undeniable, proof of his death

Inside Israel, the images of Sinwar were greeted with an outpouring of joy and relief — on the streets and on social media
Some Israelis posted videos of themselves dancing with printouts showing the dead Hamas leader

Even Israelis who demanded for months that the government reach a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Sinwar, including the families of hostages, expressed satisfaction that the IDF finally brought down the architect of the October 7, 2023 attacks