IDF Arabic spokesperson, Colonel Avichay Adraee, shared a recording on his X/Twitter account on Friday of a conversation between two Gaza residents that reveals their joy following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Sinwar was killed by the IDF in Tel Sultan in Rafah on Wednesday in an unplanned operation, sources close to the matter confirmed to The Jerusalem Post Thursday evening, several hours after rumors arose that he had been killed earlier Thursday.
“How are you? Well, Sinwar is dead and gone,” a man says, to which a woman replies, “May he go to hell! I swear I cheered when they came and told me.”
The man continues, “May God have mercy on him; what do you want from him?” She responds, “He’s the one who destroyed everything. May God not have mercy on him, not on him, and not on Haniyeh. I hope they never see God’s mercy.”
#خاص مكالمة من داخل غزة: ״هاي السنوار إستشهد وراح | والله قضيتها أزغلط لما إجو قالولي | صاروا يوزعوا حلو وقهوة" فرحة غير مسبوقة في شوارع #غزة بعد سماع خبر تصفية المدعو #يحيى_السنوار. المكالمة بين اثنين من سكان غزة تعبّر عن المشاعر الحقيقية: من الزغاريد وتوزيع الحلوى إلى… pic.twitter.com/pq6yYNROHD
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 18, 2024
Later in the conversation, when the man asks, “What’s new with you?” she responds, “We’re fine, thank God. They started handing out sweets here…” and adds, “They’ve started distributing sweets and coffee. May God have no mercy for what happened in Gaza, may God have no mercy.”
What do Gazans think about Hamas?
An opinion poll published in mid-September by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), a think tank based in Ramallah and funded by Western donors, showed for the first time the majority of Gazans opposed the decision to attack Israel on October 7.
The poll, conducted in early September, found that 57% of people surveyed in the Gaza Strip said the decision to launch the offensive was incorrect, while just 39% said it was correct – down sharply from the previous poll in June.
Hamas has long been accused of crushing dissent in Gaza with beatings or worse. But recent months have seen some rare public displays of dissent.
Signs of dissent matter to Hamas, which aims to maintain its sway in Gaza once the war ends, despite the insistence of Israel and the United States that it can play no part in governing the enclave after the war.