Al-Sinwar in pictures.. Prominent stations in the life of the “engineer” of the Al-Aqsa flood

Israel's surprises and suffering with the new Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar do not end there. When it agreed to release him as part of a prisoner exchange deal in 2011, it did not expect that the man would make it suffer 12 years later. And when it assassinated the leader of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, it did not expect that the man's powers would return to the one it describes as its most dangerous enemy in the region (Sinwar).

It was the current Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who approved the deal that released Sinwar from prison. Over the following years, as Sinwar assumed leadership responsibilities and prominent roles in the leadership of Hamas, Netanyahu was almost in a state of rage. With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the matter turned for him into a personal vendetta against the man who had struck Israel to the core, in peace and war.

In the following photos, we review some of the milestones in the life of Sinwar, whom Hamas announced today as the head of its political bureau, about a week after the martyrdom of its former head, Ismail Haniyeh.

Picture of Sinwar with Mamoun Abu Amer — Al-Sinwar with one of his friends during his youth (Al-Jazeera)

Sinwar was born on October 7, 1962, in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, a camp that belongs to a city known for its heroic role in resisting the British occupation and then the Israeli occupation.

Administration building at the Islamic University Source: Islamic University of Gaza via Facebook — Sinwar was educated at Khan Yunis Secondary School for Boys, before joining the Islamic University of Gaza and graduating with a BA in Arabic Studies (Social Communication).

Blogs - Ahmed Yassin — He founded, with Khaled Al-Hindi and Rawhi Mushtaha – at the behest of the movement's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin – in 1986 a security apparatus called the Jihad and Call Organization, known as “Majd” (European).

Sinwar spent about 23 years of his life in Israeli prisons, receiving four life sentences, before the Qassam Brigades imposed his release in a prisoner exchange deal in 2011.

A prison photo of the three Palestinian leaders: Abbas al-Sayed, Marwan Barghouti and Yahya Sinwar. — A prison photo of the three Palestinian leaders: Abbas al-Sayyed (right), Marwan Barghouti (center), and Yahya Sinwar (Palestinian Museum Digital Archive)

A relative of Yehya al-Sinwar, a top Hamas armed commander whose name was among other name of Palestinian faction leaders Hamas wants freed within a possible prisoner swap with Israel, poses with his picture at his home in the southern Gaza strip April 8, 2007 Hamas has handed over the names of Palestinian prisoners it demands Israel release in exchange for an Israeli soldier seized by Gaza gunmen 10 months ago, the Islamist group said on Sunday. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA) — A relative of Sinwar holds up his picture in 2007 during his detention (Reuters)

He was first arrested in 1982, then re-arrested on January 20, 1988, and tried on charges related to leading the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers, and killing four Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel, and was sentenced to four life sentences (a total of 426 years).

Al-Sinwar's novel cover (social media platforms)

Yahya Sinwar invested his 23-year prison term in reading, learning and writing. During this time, he learned the Hebrew language and delved into understanding the Israeli mentality. He wrote a number of books and translations in the political, security and literary fields. Among his most prominent works is a novel entitled “The Thorn of Cloves,” published in 2004, which tells the story of the Palestinian struggle from 1967 until the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Sinwar and Haniyeh — Haniyeh receiving Sinwar after his release (social media)

Yahya Sinwar was released in 2011, and was one of more than a thousand prisoners freed in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in what was called the “Wafa al-Ahrar” deal.