‘That’s my house’: Gazan discovers Sinwar was killed while hiding in his abandoned home

Gaza man discovers Yahya Sinwar was eliminated during a firefight in his home in Rafah, making the discovery only after watching footage of the Hamas leader’s last moments.

By World Israel News Staff

A Gazan man made a grisly discovery regarding his house over the weekend, after watching footage circulating on the internet of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s final moments, and the removal of his body after his death.

Ashraf Abo Taha spoke with the BBC in a report published Saturday in which he recalled learning via social media that Sinwar had been killed in his home in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Sinwar – chairman of the Hamas politburo, architect of the October 7th attacks and chief of Hamas forces in Gaza – was shot and killed during a gun battle with Israeli troops in an abandoned building on Ibn Sena Street in Rafah on Wednesday, after IDF troops spotted terrorists outside of the building.

The IDF troops were unaware that Sinwar was amongst the terrorists who had been hiding in the building, and engaged Sinwar and his bodyguards after spotting the armed men with a surveillance drone.

After his death, footage was circulated on social media outlets of Sinwar during and immediately after the gun battle, along with photographs and footage taken during the removal of his body from the building.

When Abo Taha’s daughter showed him footage from Sinwar’s final moments, he identified the building in question as his own home of 15 years, which he abandoned this May as Israel advised civilians to evacuate the city.

“I was like ‘yes this is my house’ and I saw the pictures and here I was shocked,”  Abo Taha told the BBC.

Abo Taha emphasized that neither he nor his family had offered the Hamas chief use of their home.

“Never ever did me and my brothers and sons have anything to do with this.”

Lamenting the damage to his home and property, Abo Taha said “Only God can compensate us.”

“What happened has saddened me a lot, the house that I built and all my payments are gone.”