Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who has spent most of the last year sheltered in the terror group’s tunnel network, dresses as a woman when he walks the streets of Gaza in an attempt to hide from Israel Defense Forces, according to Israeli intelligence sources.
Sinwar, who has been hunted by IDF since planning and directing the brutal Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, became Hamas’s leader following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran last month. One Israeli security source reported this month that Sinwar was running out of places to hide as the IDF advances in Gaza, the Jerusalem Post reported.
While Sinwar cross-dresses to evade his enemy, those who identify as gay and transgender in Gaza and the West Bank face an exceptional level of persecution from Islamic authorities, oftentimes resulting in death.
Last year, in the West Bank, a 25-year-old's severed head was found on the side of the road after he was murdered for being gay. In 2016, Hamas militants executed one of their own commanders for allegedly having sex with another man. In fact, many who identify as LGBTQ in Gaza seek asylum in Israel.