For months, Israel has portrayed the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as holed up in the militant group’s fortified tunnel network under Gaza, shielding himself from Israeli bombs.

But when many Palestinians in the strip watched the Israeli drone footage of Sinwar’s killing, they saw the Hamas chief above ground, dressed in military fatigues and with one arm partially severed, using his remaining hand to attack the drone with the only weapon he had — a stick.

“Even people who were angry about Hamas, when they saw . . . he had been killed during clashes and not hiding in a tunnel, as Israel was always claiming, they felt sorry and sad for him,” said Mohammed Sobeh, speaking from Khan Younis in Gaza.

“Sinwar’s death will raise his popularity.” 

Many Gazans blame the Hamas chief for inciting Israel’s wrath with the October 7 attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli officials, and triggered the devastating Gaza war. They say Sinwar provoked Israel into unleashing the greatest catastrophe on Palestinians since 1948. 

Israel’s assault has killed about 42,500 people in Gaza, according to health authorities in the shattered strip, which is now stalked by the threat of famine and disease.

But the footage of Sinwar’s final moments on Thursday looked to many in Gaza like a defiant last stand against Israel, eclipsing some of the criticism he faced from Palestinians. 

Since Sinwar’s killing, “what I’ve heard and seen is that, again, most of the Palestinians in Gaza have a lot of respect for him,” said Mkhaimar Abusada, associate professor of political science at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, now visiting scholar at Northwestern University in Illinois, US. 

“They think he just died fighting in the frontline of the battle against Israel, like many other Hamas fighters,” he said. “Criticism of Sinwar just disappeared completely today.” 

Arabic social media has been filled with praise from Hamas supporters for the ruthless militant leader. “Sinwar was martyred on the ground of Rafah in the heart of the battle,” Youssef Issa Abu Medhat said. “He was not pulled from the tunnels. He was not arrested in his underwear.”

Abbas Araghchi, foreign minister of Iran, which supports Hamas, said on X that Sinwar “bravely fought to the very end on the battlefield”. “His fate — beautifully pictured in his last image — is not a deterrent but a source of inspiration for resistance fighters across the region,” he wrote, adding a still image of Sinwar from the drone video.

The reaction in Israel to the dramatic news of Sinwar’s death, which included the grainy drone footage and a graphic image of the Hamas leader’s lifeless body amid the ruins of a bombed-out house, was sharply different.

Across the country, a sense of jubilation broke out over news that the architect of the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust had been killed. Israeli authorities were also quick to emphasise that no hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 were in the area or harmed.

On the streets and in messages shared on WhatsApp and other platforms, the dominant emotion was one of satisfaction that Israel had “brought justice” to its biggest nemesis, as defence minister Yoav Gallant put it.

The Israeli military also offered a different interpretation of Sinwar’s final moments, portraying him as injured and alone, holding 40,000 shekels in cash and a pack of Mentos candy.

“Sinwar died while beaten, persecuted and on the run — he didn’t die as a commander, but as someone who only cared for himself,” Gallant said, adding that this sent a “clear message” to Israel’s other enemies as well as the Gazan people.

The killing of Sinwar, and the assassination by Israel of many of Hamas’s other leaders, creates a power vacuum in the militant group.

Abusada said Hamas would probably struggle to replace Sinwar, while also pointing out that Israel had killed many of its previous leaders and cautioning that his death was unlikely to cause the group to collapse.

“This isn’t going to put an end to Hamas or Palestinian resistance against Israel,” he said.

But for many in Gaza, the overwhelming feeling at Sinwar’s death is neither jubilation nor grief, but simply exhaustion. 

“I thought I would feel happy if Sinwar was killed,” said Mohammad Nafiz, a 28-year-old in Khan Younis. Instead, he added, “it feels mixed and weird”.

Sinwar’s death comes after a year of carnage in Gaza, where a renewed Israeli offensive in the north of the territory over the past two weeks has killed dozens of people every day. Israeli human rights groups say the Israeli military appears to be implementing a plan to lay siege to northern Gaza and starve out its remaining inhabitants, which Israel denies. 

“People in Gaza’s greatest concern is stopping the war,” said a 42-year-old man in northern Gaza, who asked not to be named. 

“As for the assassination of Sinwar and other Palestinian leaders, it’s expected,” he added. “This doesn’t surprise us as Palestinians. All we care about is ending the war.” 

Additional reporting by Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper

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SPOTTING this iconic Christmas character on a 50p coin could make it worth 21 times its face value.

Each year, The Royal Mint releases a 50p coin featuring Raymond Briggs’ beloved festive character, The Snowman.

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Over the past seven years, the UK’s official producer of coins has released a new 50p featuring the cartoon.

Since 2018, around 700,000 Snowman coins have been snapped up by collectors worldwide, making it a firm favourite amongst collectors.

Its latest design has already been released and features The Snowman putting a star on top of the Christmas tree.

The coins won’t be entering general circulation, meaning you will have to buy one from The Royal Mint website.

But coin collection professionals at Change Checker have said that previous editions of the 50p can sell for a pretty penny on sites such as eBay.

For example, the Royal Mint’s 2018 edition of The Snowman coin, which features the iconic image of him flying in the sky, sold for £10.50 this Ocotber.

The 2019 edition, depicting the lovable cartoon as he comes to life, sold for £10.99 this month also.

A full breakdown of how much each sold for on eBay this month can be seen below.

• 2018 – £10.50
• 2019 -£10.99
• 2020 -£9.57
• 2021 – £8.99
• 2022 -£8.94
• 2023 -£8.99

Experts at Change Checker said: “The Snowman 50ps can fetch a pretty penny on the secondary market, with the 2018 and 2019 editions selling for up to 21 times their face value. “

“If this data is anything to go by, the 2024 The Snowma 50p is sure to be popular with collectors.”

However, it is important to remember that a coin is only worth how much a buyer is willing to pay for it.

So if you are keen to flog one of your pieces online you should keep that in mind.

Character coins are a fan favourite amongst collectors.

You may have seen recently The Royal Mint released a 50p coin featuring the Gruffalo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its books.

The Sun recently rounded up a full list of quirky rare coins that could be worth £356, which you can check out here.

How much can I buy the new Snowman coin for?

You can purchase the Snowman coins from The Royal Mint website.

Prices start from £12 for a brilliant uncirculated coin and £25 for a colour version, all the way up to £1,220 for a gold proof coin.

Collectors are also already listing the coins on eBay.

At the moment you can find one of the brilliant uncirculated 50p coins listed for £9.49 and the coloured version for £14.99.

Also listed on the bidding site is a silver-proof coin for £109.50.

You should bear in mind that if you can still buy the coin directly from The Royal Mint website then it is unlikely you will get much more for it on eBay.

Usually, collectors buy these limited edition coins in the hope that they will go up in value as there is only a certain number of them available, but this is not always the case.

How to spot rare coins and banknotes

Rare coins and notes hiding down the back of your sofa could sell for hundreds of pounds.

If you are lucky enough to find a rare £10 note you might be able to sell it for multiple times its face value.

You can spot rare notes by keeping an eye out for the serial numbers.

These numbers can be found on the side with the Monarch’s face, just under the value £10 in the corner of the note.

Also if you have a serial number on your note that is quite quirky you could cash in thousands.

For example, one seller bagged £3,600 after spotting a specific serial number relating to the year Jane Austen was born on one of their notes.

You can check if your notes are worth anything on eBay, just tick “completed and sold items” and filter by the highest value.

It will give you an idea of what people are willing to pay for some notes.

But do bear in mind that yours is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

This is also the case for coins, you can determine how rare your coin is by looking a the latest scarcity index.

The next step is to take a look at what has been recently sold on eBay.

Experts from Change Checker recommend looking at “sold listings” to be sure that the coin has sold for the specified amount rather than just been listed.

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The tobacco industry is close to ending a long-running Canadian lawsuit, after a court-appointed mediator for British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco proposed a C$32.5bn ($23.6bn) settlement.

The companies have been negotiating a possible resolution to the litigation after a Quebec court ordered their Canadian subsidiaries to pay C$15.6bn damages in 2015 to compensate smokers for health problems, marking the largest damages award in the country’s history.

PMI said on Friday that under the proposal, the settlement would be paid by its unit Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH), and the Canadian units of the two other tobacco companies. The allocation of the amount between the companies in the proceedings remained unresolved, it added.

Upfront payments will be funded from cash in the companies and deposits made into court, while ongoing payments will be determined by the three companies’ profits from tobacco products in Canada. Contributions will start at 85 per cent of net profit, with a 5 per cent reduction every five years to 70 per cent after 15 years, it said.

It added that voting on the plan would happen in December and if accepted by claimants, a hearing to consider approval of the plan would be expected in the first half of next year.

The plan brings a potential end to litigation that has hung over the companies for more than two decades, and was brought on behalf of two groups of smokers, including people who had developed throat and lung cancer, and others who were addicted to nicotine. The class action suits were the first in Canada in which damages were ordered against the industry to compensate smokers for health problems.

“After years of mediation, we welcome this important step towards the resolution of long-pending tobacco product-related litigation in Canada,” said Jacek Olczak, the chief executive PMI.

“Although important issues with the plan remain to be resolved, we are hopeful that this legal process will soon conclude, allowing RBH and its stakeholders to focus on the future,” he added.

Rae Maile, analyst at Panmure Liberum said the proposed settlement was a relief for investors, as it does not involve cost beyond Canada, and will not impact growing segments such as vaping, heat-not-burn and nicotine pouches.

“The companies will still be able to make money from these newer areas, provided that [they] get enough scale to make money,” he said.

PMI’s announcement follows BAT’s earlier on Friday, which confirmed that a compromise and arrangement plan had been filed by a court-appointed mediator in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, but did not disclose the details.

BAT’s unit Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN), RBH and JT’s Canadian subsidiary JTI-Macdonald all filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 soon after a Quebec court upheld the 2015 decision after the industry appealed.

“Today marks a positive step towards finding a resolution,” said BAT on Friday. “This has been a complex, confidential mediation and . . . we are hopeful of a quick conclusion to this process and securing a Canadian settlement for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

JTI-Macdonald said it had been “actively engaged in the confidential mediation” but added there were “certain critical issues that would need to be resolved if we are to find a settlement plan that is workable”.

BAT shares were down 4 per cent on Friday.