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Evening Standard

Evening Standard

Who was Yahya Sinwar? Hamas leader allegedly behind the October 7 attacks

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Yahya Sinwar was born in 1962 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza .

Born in 1962 , he was arrested in 1982 for subversive activities in 1982 .

He was jailed in 1989 for the murder of four Palestinians accused of collabration.

In 2011 he was freed in return for Gilad Shalit , an Israeli soldier taken prisoner by Hamas .

Sinwar took on more influential roles in Hamas outside of prison, culminating in the October 7 attacks.