OCTOBER 16, 2026 06:00

Updated: OCTOBER 16, 2026 07:42

The IDF made public earlier unseen papers written by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Friday, two years after his death.

The IDF also released video of the military operation that killed him, showing tank shells hitting the building he fled into, plus drone images from searches inside the structure the next morning.

In one paper, the planner of the October 7 attack ordered Hamas Nukhba Force fighters to send recordings of their actions to many media outlets to frighten all of Israel.

Sinwar stated that those in charge of the terror cells must carry out their actions on purpose, record them, and send the images out right away.

These images should show stepping on IDF soldiers heads, shooting at close range, killing people with knives, destroying IDF tanks, and prisoners kneeling with hands on their heads, Sinwar wrote.

We need to prepare ahead for events that will create terrible images, he wrote in another paper. Several car bombs that explode inside a post or building and cause great damage. Heartbreaking scenes. Huge fires. Five or ten such pictures will make their hearts sink.

Allah came upon them without them expecting it and cast fear into their hearts. Two or three operations should be set up to burn entire neighborhoods, a kibbutz, and similar places. They will spray gasoline or diesel fuel from a special tanker, then set the place on fire, and send out the pictures, the terror leader wrote.

The papers also reveal how Sinwar misled Israels political, defense, and intelligence groups into thinking he favored a political deal with Israel.

Sinwar also described what might occur if other terror groups from the West Bank and the Iran-led Axis of Resistance joined the attack.

There may be signs of the enemys collapse from the start, and it is possible that movements by our people in the interior, in Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as Hezbollahs involvement, will help this, he wrote.

Therefore, we must be ready to grow the attack to its fullest. The main part of the plan should cover control of power centers and command of our central forces. Forces from Palestinian factions can go to population areas, but our forces must focus on key defined goals and important positions, he added.

What happened during Sinwars killing?

Combat teams from the Nahal and 828th Brigades were operating in the Tel Sultan area of Rafah based on intelligence about possible high-value Hamas targets when they saw terrorists leaving a building.

A video of an IDF tank firing on Yahya Sinwars position in Gaza, published October 16, 2026. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSONS UNIT)

A gunfight followed; the terrorists scattered, and without the soldiers knowing at the time, Sinwar stayed alone, left behind in a building.

He was killed in a gunfight soon after.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar being seen by IDF troops, before being hit by a tank shell, published October 16, 2026. (Credit: IDF Spokespersons Unit)

Detailing the combat encounter

Several weeks before Sinwar was killed, the IDFs Gaza Division took responsibility for the Rafah sector of the Gaza Strip.

On the day of the fight in which Sinwar was killed, lookouts saw three armed terrorists moving through a damaged, IDF-controlled area about 300 meters from an ongoing engineering operation, the military said on Friday.

Two of the terror operatives carried a blanket, and the third wore a tactical vest, the military added.

A battalion commander saw them, opened fire, and wounded one in the arm. This wounded operative was later confirmed to be Sinwar.

Soldiers surrounded the area using tanks and drones. One soldier was badly wounded and taken out during a gunfight.

Sinwar, wounded from the earlier shooting, fled and entered a separate building from the other two terror operatives.

Recording of communications between soldiers of the 828th Brigade during the operation that resulted in Yahya Sinwars death, published October 16, 2026. (Credit: IDF Spokespersons Unit)

An IDF Paratrooper Brigade company entered to search the building that Sinwar had entered. A platoon commander saw a pool of blood, showing a wounded terrorist nearby. Moments later, two grenades were thrown at the soldiers, one of which exploded, the military said.

Soldiers used heavy fire on the structure, including tank shells, machine gun fire, and small arms fire. That evening, an IDF drone entered the structure and found the remains of a body. Soldiers waited until the next morning to finish searches due to operational risks, the military noted.

When search teams entered the structure, they were able to identify Sinwar and confirm his death.