Azzam Tamimi on Yahya Sinwar's legacy, Israel and the likelihood of a regional war
Published date: 22 October 2024 12:55 BST
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Last update: 6 hours 53 min ago
The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is unlikely to change Israel's calculus in Gaza, says Azzam Tamimi, a British Palestinian academic and author on the history of the Palestinian movement Hamas.
Sinwar, 61, had been a high-profile target of the Israeli military in Gaza where more than 42,000 Palestinians are known to have been killed in the past 12 months of war.
Tamimi says that many observers, activists and Palestinians interpreted Sinwar's last minutes, which were captured by a drone and released by the Israeli army, as emblematic of resistance and sacrifice.
The footage appeared to show Sinwar, wounded and with a severed arm, covered in the dust of a partially demolished building.
"I don't think that any of the former Hamas leaders who were assassinated will probably be remembered the way Sinwar will be remembered," Tamimi says.
In this episode of UNAPOLOGETIC, Tamimi also discusses who could serve as the next leader of Hamas, the likelihood of a regional war and what will happen to Gaza in the long term.
"Netanyahu has been playing a game actually since the beginning of the war, he pretended he wanted to reach a deal with Hamas and every time a deal was about to be reached he withdrew," Tamimi says.
"Netanyahu clearly didn't care about the hostages and he still doesn't care about the hostages," he added.
UNAPOLOGETIC is a show that unapologetically looks at the life, times and views of some unapologetic and not so unapologetic humans. Hosted by Ashfaaq Carim
Sinwar, 61, had been a high-profile target of the Israeli military in Gaza where more than 42,000 Palestinians are known to have been killed in the past 12 months of war.
Tamimi says that many observers, activists and Palestinians interpreted Sinwar's last minutes, which were captured by a drone and released by the Israeli army, as emblematic of resistance and sacrifice.
The footage appeared to show Sinwar, wounded and with a severed arm, covered in the dust of a partially demolished building.
"I don't think that any of the former Hamas leaders who were assassinated will probably be remembered the way Sinwar will be remembered," Tamimi says.
In this episode of UNAPOLOGETIC, Tamimi also discusses who could serve as the next leader of Hamas, the likelihood of a regional war and what will happen to Gaza in the long term.
"Netanyahu has been playing a game actually since the beginning of the war, he pretended he wanted to reach a deal with Hamas and every time a deal was about to be reached he withdrew," Tamimi says.
"Netanyahu clearly didn't care about the hostages and he still doesn't care about the hostages," he added.
UNAPOLOGETIC is a show that unapologetically looks at the life, times and views of some unapologetic and not so unapologetic humans. Hosted by Ashfaaq Carim
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