The shields of humanity: Yahya Sinwar becomes the shield for Gaza’s children

It was the Thursday afternoon, and I was on the verge of falling asleep when suddenly, a flood of news and images spread across all media networks—both allies and enemies alike—and jolted me wide awake. The news I was hearing seemed unbelievable. Yahya Sinwar, the commander said to be directing the battle against the Zionists from Gaza’s tunnels through encrypted notes, whose location was a complete mystery, had reportedly been martyred in a house in Rafah, along with two other fighters, following direct combat with the enemy. It felt like a nightmare. Hamas’ official channels hadn’t confirmed the news yet, and I wasn’t ready to believe that our top commander had been right in the middle of the fight. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt angry, perhaps frustrated that security measures hadn’t been enforced properly for him.

That same day, I read in the news that ever since the start of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Sheikh Yahya had been leading from the front, just as he always had. It dawned on me then that the enemy’s propaganda had subtly led me to view our commander through the lens of Zionist and American generals, who command battles from the safety of underground bunkers. In that moment, it felt as if history itself was flashing before my eyes, or maybe it was the blood of the martyr clearing away the fog of the enemy’s psychological warfare, revealing the truth of our struggle. I was reminded that since the very beginning of the Resistance, and even during the years of war in Iran, our great commanders—like the revered martyr, Qassem Soleimani—had never led from afar. Martyr Soleimani had talked about commanders of Resistance, being the leaders in the battlefields, fighting on the frontlines, and calling for their comrades to “join them,” not to “go and fight.”

This type of leadership was common in all of the branches of Resistance. On September 12, 1997, during the time southern Lebanon was still under Israeli occupation, Hezbollah fighters launched an operation against Israeli forces. During the battle, two Hezbollah fighters were martyred. The Israeli army, looking to exploit the situation for media purposes, quickly filmed the blood-soaked bodies of the martyrs and aired the footage on television. It was soon revealed that one of the martyrs was Sayyid Hadi, the son of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah. The news sent shockwaves through Lebanese society, marking a significant turning point.

In Lebanon’s history—whether during the civil war or the fight against Israel’s military aggression—there had never been a case where the son of a leader from any political or militia group was killed in combat.

When Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah spoke to the people about the need for resistance against Israel, he had sent his own son to the battlefield to fight. This demonstrated the kind of leadership that Martyr Soleimani had referred to.

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, the founders of Hamas and prominent figures of the Resistance in Palestine, also preached resistance while being the primary targets of Israeli assassination. Yet, they continued to walk the streets, attend mosques, and move through the neighborhoods of Gaza just like ordinary people.

The Zionist enemy has consistently tried to undermine this example. Since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, the Israeli regime has repeatedly attempted to convince the people of Gaza and Lebanon that the Resistance was using civilians as human shields, evacuating their own families from danger while exploiting the suffering of the people for political and economic gain. However, time has proven that the leaders of the Resistance do not hide behind human shields—they themselves are the shields of humanity.

On April 10, 2024, the Israeli regime targeted a car in northern Gaza carrying the sons of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau. This act sent a strong message: the sons of the Resistance leader were in northern Gaza, enduring the relentless bombardment alongside the people.

A few months later, Ismail Haniyeh himself became the target of an Israeli assassination. He was martyred after months of tireless efforts to lift the blockade on Gaza and secure a ceasefire.

Weeks later, as the Zionist regime attempted to open a new front in Lebanon, they launched airstrikes on the southern Dahiya of Beirut. As Hezbollah worked to evacuate civilians from the area, relocating them to safety, the enemy tried to blame the displacement on the Resistance and its leader, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah. However, news soon broke of Nasrallah’s martyrdom in Dahiya. He had stayed behind to ensure that the last civilians were evacuated from enemy fire. The leader of Lebanon’s Resistance saved his people from the bombardment, only to meet his God from beneath the rubble.

The final chapter of leadership among the Resistance fighters has now played out in Gaza. Yahya Sinwar, born in a refugee camp, educated under occupation in Gaza, joined the resistance in his youth, for which he was imprisoned and sentenced to life. He spent over 23 years of his life in Zionist prisons, and after his release, his determination and strategic brilliance helped lay the groundwork for the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation. He was martyred during an ambush on Zionist tanks in the besieged Tel al-Sultan area of Rafah. Just as in 1987, the Zionist regime hastily released footage of his martyrdom, forgetting that only months earlier their own media had claimed Sinwar was hiding behind human shields in tunnels, safely observing the deaths of the people of Gaza.

Until now, we may not have fully understood why the resilient youth of Palestine, despite all the hardships and sacrifices, never turned their backs on the enemy. But today, we can confidently say it is this very tradition that keeps the Resistance alive. The fact that the greatest commanders, like their fighters, are on the frontlines, continuing the struggle not with money or power, but with their blood and faith. The Resistance is alive and will remain so because, across its breadth, commanders—young and old, from Abu Jihad in the West Bank to Yahya Sinwar in Gaza—emerged from the people, fought alongside them, and taught their steadfast nation the true meaning of life: “This is Jihad; either victory or martyrdom“.