The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on October 16. It does not appear that this was a planned assassination, but that the IDF just happened to run into him. While an Israeli patrol was searching through the city of Rafah, they saw a group of Hamas militants and both sides exchanged fire. Later it was confirmed that Sinwar was among the dead.

Killing a leader has a significant impact on any conflict. But the way the leader died is critical in determining how his people will remember him. Did the leader face death with admirable courage or detestable cowardice? The answer to this question can transform a man into either an immortal symbol or a historical pariah.

An example of a man who became a legend in death is Joseph Trumpeldor.

Trumpeldor was a Jewish veteran of the Russian military who traveled to Palestine to join the early Zionist movement. In 1920 he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Tel Hai, one of the earliest battles between Arab and Jewish militias. When he was informed that he would die of his wounds, Trumpeldor allegedly said, “Never mind, it is good to die for our country.”

These last words became a rallying cry for the early Zionists and turned Trumpeldor into a national hero. He faced his death with patriotic bravery and he still serves as an inspiration to his people.

An example of a man’s death contributing to his infamy rather than his legend is Adolf Hitler.

Hitler committed suicide as it became clear the Soviet Army would win the Battle of Berlin, sealing Germany’s defeat in World War II. He did not die on the battlefield fighting for his people, and he was unwilling to even face the consequences of his actions. It is difficult to believe any modern-day Nazi sympathizers can find inspiration in the story of a broken Führer who took his own life.

If we evaluate how the Palestinian people will view Sinwar’s death, the straightforward conclusion is that he will live on as a hero to his people.

To be clear, I am not saying Sinwar lived an admirable life. If it is true he was involved in planning the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, he is a horrendous criminal, and I would consider it a just outcome if he had been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. This article is merely an examination of how Palestinians will view Sinwar based on how he died.

When the IDF patrol and Sinwar’s Hamas militants exchanged fire, his comrades were all killed. Sinwar was able to take cover in a nearby building and the IDF sent in a drone to assess the situation. Israel released the footage the drone captured, and I honestly still cannot believe they allowed this video to reach the internet.

The video shows Sinwar sitting on a chair in a nearly destroyed building, and part of his right arm seems to be missing. He stares at the Israeli drone and then throws a stick at it in a final act of resistance. The drone footage ends here, but we know that IDF tanks and missiles later destroyed the building, killing Sinwar.

If the IDF had not released this footage, Palestinians and the rest of the world may never have known how Sinwar spent his last moments. Israel would have been better off to keep the world ignorant. Sinwar’s death almost seems like it was scripted with the intent of turning him into a larger-than-life figure.

Hamas fighters will undoubtedly tell how their fearless leader was the final remaining combatant after he and his fighters engaged the Israeli enemy. Despite being mortally wounded, Sinwar was able to take cover. Still, the Israelis were too afraid to face him.

In a cowardly act, the IDF sent a drone to survey the building while they hid. When Sinwar saw the drone, he used his last ounce of strength to attempt to damage it and strike at the Israelis. Even as he faced death, Sinwar remained unbroken and defiant.

The fact that the IDF released this drone footage is the latest piece of evidence that Israel will not win the war of public opinion regarding Palestine. In the past, Israel may have been able to keep an iron grip on the narrative surrounding the conflicts in Gaza and the West Bank, but today, sites like Twitter/X and Instagram allow the world to see for themselves the horrors Israel is inflicting on the Palestinian people.

In the earliest days of Israel’s war on Gaza, comedian and podcaster Robbie Bernstein predicted that Israel would lose control of the narrative. He was the first person I heard make this point, and he could not have been more correct.

But perhaps controlling the narrative during a war is no longer possible. In the age of social media, the evil of war cannot be hidden. Gone are the days when a nation’s people received their news in movie theaters and the state had complete control over what stories were shared. The internet allows everyone to witness the mass slaughter of innocents in real-time.

However, the publicizing of Sinwar’s final moments is more than a military losing control of a narrative due to social media. In this case, Israel did have control. They could have chosen not to release the footage and then invented some story about how they found Sinwar hiding under a desk whimpering and begging for his life. Whether anyone believed it or not, there would have been no evidence to support or disprove the claim. Instead, they released the video and made it absolutely certain that Palestinians will forever see Sinwar as a man who resisted oppression with his every breath.

This would be like an alternate history of 1920 where the Arab militia had captured a wounded Trumpeldor, and they were the only ones to hear his courageous last words. It would have been insane for the Arabs to publish these words so they could serve as an inspiration for the Zionists, and it is equally insane that the IDF allowed the Palestinians to see Sinwar’s final moments.

Even when Israel manages to eliminate an enemy combatant without any innocent casualties, they do so in a way that will embolden Palestinian fighters, not demoralize them. For any Palestinian man who has seen innocent family members die at the hands of the IDF, the story of Sinwar’s death will be like a Hamas recruitment ad.

Israel’s atrocious war on Gaza has made it clear they do not care how the world sees them, but they should at least be mindful of how they are actively creating more enemies. If Israel’s true goal is to create a safe place for the Jewish people, they should avoid turning their worst enemies into legends.