IDF publishes letter said written by Sinwar’s son expressing desire to ‘shoot Jews’

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

An image from a letter the IDF says was written to Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar by his son in 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
An image from a letter the IDF says was written to Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar by his son in 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Marking two years since its troops killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the IDF publishes a letter it says was written by the terror chief’s son, Ibrahim, at the start of the Gaza war, when he was 10 years old.

The army says the letter had been recovered by soldiers operating in the Strip in 2024.

“Beloved father, I miss you very much! I want to hug you and see you victorious, and I want to proclaim ‘Allah is the greatest,’ hold a Kalashnikov, and shoot Jews,” writes Ibrahim in the letter, according to a translation provided by the military.

The letter includes drawings by Ibrahim depicting an assault rifle, Israeli tanks along the Gaza border barrier, and rockets being launched toward Israel.

“When will you come back and sleep with your arms around me? I am constantly making pistols, tanks, and Kalashnikovs out of paper and cardboard,” the letter reads.

“My Lord, I wish the war would end and that I see you well. May Allah protect you, father. I want you to pray for me. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings,” it adds.

The military says the letter and drawings illustrate how “Sinwar’s murderous ideology is reflected in the upbringing of his children, revealing the impact of Hamas’s values of hatred and violence on the younger generation in the Gaza Strip.”

According to the IDF, on the night before the October 7, 2023, onslaught that he masterminded, Sinwar fled to an “underground fortress” in Khan Younis that he had built for himself and his family under his home.

The military reached Sinwar’s main tunnel in February 2024, but he had already fled, likely to another tunnel in the Khan Younis area and later to Rafah. According to the IDF, Sinwar spent most of his time during the war underground in the area between Khan Younis and Rafah, surfacing only briefly to escape potential capture while accompanied by bodyguards, and with money and weapons.

On October 16, 2024, troops carrying out mop-up operations in Rafah encountered a cell of Hamas operatives and eliminated them in an exchange of fire. Only the following morning did it emerge that among the terrorists was the Hamas chief.

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