'This is how a hero dies' — Palestinians on Yahya Sinwar's death

For one Palestinian father in besieged Gaza, Yahya Sinwar's death in battle trying to beat back a drone with a stick was "how heroes die." For others, it was an example for future generations.

"He died wearing a military vest, fighting with a rifle and grenades, and when he was wounded and was bleeding he fought with a stick. This is how heroes die," said Adel Rajab, 60, a father of two in Gaza.

"I have watched the video 30 times since last night, there is no better way to die," said Ali, a 30-year-old taxi driver in Gaza.

"I will make this video a daily duty to watch for my sons, and my grandsons in the future," said the father of two.

Sinwar — whom Tel Aviv claims was the architect of Hamas' October 7 blitz that was used by Israel as a pretext to carry out its genocidal war on Gaza — was killed on Wednesday in a gunfight with invading Israeli forces after a year-long manhunt, and his death was announced on Thursday.

A video of some of his final minutes, showing him masked and wounded in a shell-smashed apartment trying to hurl a stick at a drone filming him inspired pride among Palestinians.

Hamas confirmed his "martyrdom" on Friday and vowed to fight Israel until it ends its war on Gaza.

"He died a hero, attacking not fleeing, clutching his rifle, and engaging against the occupation army at the front line," a Hamas statement mourning Sinwar's death said.

In the statement, Hamas vowed his death would only strengthen the movement, adding that it wouldn't compromise on conditions to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel.

Hamas says its October 7 blitz on locations that were once Arab farms and villages was orchestrated in response to near-daily Israeli attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque, illegal settler violence in occupied West Bank and to put Palestine question "back on the table."

Palestinian fighters took more than 250 hostages and presently some 100 remain in Gaza, including 33 who the Israeli army says are dead, some of them killed in indiscriminate Israeli strikes.

Tel Aviv has since then killed more than 42,500 Palestinians and wounded nearly 100,000. Some 10,000 Palestinians are feared buried under the rubble of their bombed homes. Another 10,000 have been abducted by Israel and dumped in Israeli jails and torture chambers.

Experts and some studies say this is just a tip of an iceberg and the actual Palestinian death toll could be around 200,000.

Sinwar's own words in previous speeches, saying he would rather die fighting than from a heart attack or car accident, have been repeatedly shared by Palestinians online.

"The best gift the enemy and the occupation can offer me is to assassinate me and that I go as a martyr" he had said.

A legacy that will live on

Now some Palestinians are wondering whether Israel will regret allowing the fulfilment of that wish to be broadcast as a potential recruiting tool for an organisation it has sworn to destroy.

"They said he was hiding inside the tunnels. They said he was keeping Israeli prisoners next to him to save his life. Yesterday we saw that he was hunting down Israeli soldiers in Rafah, where the occupation has been operating since May," said Rasha, a displaced 42-year-old mother of four children.

"This is how leaders go, with a rifle in the hand. I supported Sinwar as a leader and today I am proud of him as a martyr," she added.

Rajab, who praised Sinwar's death as heroic, said he had not supported the October 7 blitz, but he said the manner of his death "made me proud as a Palestinian".

In both Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where Hamas also has significant support and where fighting between Israeli occupying forces and Palestinians has increased over the past year, people wondered whether Sinwar's death would hasten the war's end.

In Hebron, a flashpoint West Bank city, Ala'a Hashalmoon said killing Sinwar would not mean a more conciliatory leader.

"What I can figure out is that whoever dies, there is someone who replaces him (who) is more stubborn," he said.

And in Ramallah, Murad Omar, 54, said little would change on the ground. "The war will continue and it seems it won't end soon," he said.

Sinwar's 'legacy has only just begun'

Ashish Prashar, a former advisor to UK's Middle East Peace Envoy, told TRT World that Sinwar's death shows that Palestinian people, Hamas and their leaders put their lives on the line to liberate themselves from an unjust settler colony experiment.

"Sinwar engaged an Israeli brigade directly with a handful of fighters. When resisting, he ran into the building and got up to the second floor. They shot a tank shell at him. He lost his arm. And still, when the occupation tried to raid the building, with one hand he threw grenades down at them injuring several members of the occupation," he said.

"After sending a drone in to see if he was still alive, he used his last breath to fire and throw a stick at that drone in defiance of the occupation," Prashar said.

Prashar added: "It shows a character that is the total opposite of a man [Netanyahu] who hides in a bunker at the first sign of a rocket."

Sinwar's life might have ended but his legacy has only just begun, he said.

"The Israeli occupation has successfully immortalised him. This is a man who died fighting on the front lines, resisting an occupation of him and his people until the very end. His name will outlive the very settler colony that he was fighting against."