27-07-2025
Ex-Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar's widow remarries in Turkey after escaping Gaza with fake passport
As the Gaza Strip reels under the world's worst humanitarian crisis and continued Israeli airstrikes, families of senior Hamas leaders have quietly left the territory, raising concerns and deepening public resentment.
According to a news website which quoted sources, the families of top Hamas officials were smuggled out of the Gaza Strip in the early days of the war, using forged documents, logistical support, and assistance from foreign contacts.
Though these accounts remain unverified by official sources, the reports have sparked anger among Gazans living under siege conditions, the news website said.
According to the report, Israeli military in January this year had released a video showing Samar Abu Zamer, widow of Hamas military commander Yahya Sinwar, entering a Hamas tunnel with her children. While initial speculation suggested that she had gone underground, local sources later told Israeli news outlet Ynet that Zamer had left Gaza entirely and was living in Turkey.
'She's no longer here – she crossed through the Rafah border using a fake passport,' one source said, noting the operation involved 'high-level coordination, logistical support, and large sums of money that regular Gazans don't have.'
Zamer remarried in Turkey a few months after Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces, sources said. The match was reportedly arranged by senior Hamas political bureau member Fathi Hammad, who has been previously linked to efforts aiding the escape of Hamas figures and their families. Abu Zamer faced criticism last year when footage showed her carrying an expensive Hermès Birkin handbag while hiding in a tunnel.
Reportedly Najwa Sinwar, wife of Yayha Sinwar's brother, Mohammad Sinwar, also left Gaza with her children before her husband's death, possibly also for Turkey. While there is no public record of her whereabouts in recent months, Israeli security officials confirmed that both women exited Gaza via Rafah crossing before their husbands were killed.
The news website also said that according to regional observers, Hamas has long maintained a covert smuggling network to evacuate its leaders' families. The system reportedly involves forged passports, fake medical records, and coordination with embassies of allied nations.
Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations each day for 10 hours in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors in the enclave, where images of hungry Palestinians have alarmed the world, Reuters reported.
Military activity will stop from 10 am to 8 pm (0700-1700 GMT) until further notice in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City.
The military also announced designated secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine will also be in place between 6 am and 11 pm starting from Sunday.
Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. A total of 127 people have died due to malnutrition, including 85 children, since the start of the war, the ministry said.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said it was sending on Sunday more than 100 trucks carrying over 1,200 metric tons of food aid to southern Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Hours earlier, Israel began aid airdrops in what it said was an effort to ease the humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
(With inputs from Reuters)
