Dr. Yuval Bitton treated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a prison clinic in 2004, saving his life with a brain tumor diagnosis and facilitating an immediate transfer to the hospital.
Nineteen years later, Bitton’s nephew was killed by terrorists on October 7 in an attack orchestrated by the now-Hamas leader, he told CNN.
Bitton was employed as a dentist at Nafha Prison when he met Sinwar, who was serving four life sentences for the abduction and murder of two IDF soldiers.
The terror leader never completed his sentences, having been freed as part of a 2011 prisoner-hostage exchange that saw some 1,000 terrorists released in exchange for Gilad Shalit.
Bitton told CNN he felt he knew the attack was coming and immediately knew who was behind the devastating murders of more than 1,200 people.
“I know the person who planned and conceived and initiated this criminal attack,” Bitton said. “I have known him since 1996 – not only him but the entire Hamas leadership in Gaza – and it was clear to me that this is what they were planning.”
How an Israeli doctor saved the life of Yahya Sinwar
In 2004, Sinwar reportedly appeared before the doctor complaining of neck pain and a loss of balance.
“When he explained to me what was happening to him, I diagnosed it as a stroke, and together with the general practitioner, we decided to take him to the hospital,” Bitton said. “He arrived at the hospital, the diagnosis was that he had an abscess in the brain, and he was operated on that day, thus saving his life – because if it had exploded, he would have died.”
The terrorist leader allegedly acknowledged Bitton’s role in saving his life at the time and later promised during his 2011 release that he would repay the debt he owed to him.
“He also told me that on the day he was released in [Gilad] Shalit’s deal in 2011 that he owed me his life, and one day, he will repay it.”
Repaying life with death
Despite his promise, Sinwar orchestrated the October 7 attacks, which saw Hamas terrorists infiltrate Israel and brutally murder civilians, foreign nationals, and soldiers.
Over 250 people were abducted during the attacks.
One of the victims of the attack was Bitton’s nephew Tamir.
Sinwar “made up for [saving his life] on October 7 in that he was also directly responsible for the murder of my nephew in Kibbutz Nir Oz,” he said.
Tamir had been seriously wounded while attempting to fight off five terrorists, eventually losing the battle and being taken to Gaza. Only hours after his abduction, Tamir died of his wounds in Gaza.
“There were only five of them. They didn’t really stand a chance, and he was kidnapped while he was still seriously injured [and] unconscious, and died after a few hours in Gaza,” Bitton recounted.
In the mind of Yahya Sinwar
Having spent hundreds of hours in Sinwar’s company, the doctor explained that he understood the terrorist leader’s mindset and perceptions of the world well. He told CNN that Sinwar believes that Jews have “no place” on “Muslim lands.”
It was based on his understanding of Sinwar that Bitton had hypothesized it was “only a matter of time and timing that they [Hamas] will act against us and try to expel us from the place where we live.”
Sinwar, Bitton asserted, was primarily focused on remaining in power – not on the safety and security of the Palestinian people that his terror group governs.
Sinwar is “willing to sacrifice even 100,000 Palestinians in order to ensure the survival of his rule,” he said. “He is willing to pay with the lives of militants, Hamas members, [and] civilians; he doesn’t care.”
Israel's costly mistake
Bitton said that Israel had made a mistake in not establishing an alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza, adding that Sinwar still “feels he is in a powerful position.”
“He is running the negotiations while still operating from within Gaza, and still controls the areas from which the IDF evacuates. He also controls the humanitarian aid, and therefore he feels strong and won’t sign an agreement to release the hostages unless the IDF withdraws from Gaza and the fighting ends,” the doctor who saved him said.
“Our attitude towards Hamas was arrogant,” he said. “We dismissed Hamas. And Hamas said everything it intended to do, but we didn’t want to listen.”