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Yahya Sinwar (1962-2024) died in the way he lived. A keffiyeh covering his head, one arm shot off, his other arm free to throw a stick at an Israeli drone that was targeting him. Till the very last, this Palestinian fought for his dignity. After an Israeli soldier released the video, it was widely shared in the Arabic speaking world and shaped Sinwar as a hero. At the age of 20, in 1982, long before the formation of Hamas, Sinwar was arrested and detained by the Israeli occupation. Over the course of his early life, Sinwar spent years in prison. During one stint, he wrote a novel - Al-Shawk wa'l Qurunful (Thorns and Carnations), which was smuggled out and published. It tells the story of Ahmed, a boy from Gaza who lives under the Israeli occupation. It is the story of Sinwar, in may ways. After October 7, the Israelis shaped a narrative of him as a monster, which is something that is not recognised by people who worked closely with him. It is forgotten, for instance, that on May 16, 2018, Sinwar told al-Jazeera that Hamas was not rooted in violence but in Palestinian liberation and that it would also develop forms of 'peaceful, popular resistance'. This was in the context of the Great March of Return in Gaza, which the Israelis met with lethal force. After Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh on July 31, 2024 in Tehran, the Hamas leadership named Sinwar as its leader. He remained in Gaza, moving around, and being in the thick smoke of the fight. He died as so many Palestinians have died over this year: as a human being who spent his life fighting for dignity, and who died with dignity.