LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Last year, Yahya Sinwar told a rally in Gaza that Hamas would deploy fighters and rockets in a fierce strike on Israel, the nation that imprisoned him for 23 years before he was freed and rose to a leadership role in the militant group.
The speech by Hamas’ leader in Gaza to thousands of cheering supporters bore the hallmarks of crowd-pleasing hyperbole. Less than a year later, Israel discovered it was no idle threat, when Hamas fighters broke through Gaza’s fence, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostage.
“We will come to you, God willing, in a roaring flood. We will come to you with endless rockets, we will come to you in a limitless flood of soldiers, we will come to you with millions of our people, like the repeating tide,” he said during his Dec. 14 address.
By the time of the speech, Sinwar and the militant Islamists’ military leader Mohammed Deif had already hatched secret plans for the Oct. 7 assault, the deadliest day in Israel’s 75-year history. In response, Israel has bombarded and invaded Gaza, killing more than 15,000 Palestinians.
Heard in hindsight, Sinwar’s words carry the foreboding of what was to come, an attack Hamas…
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