The last sighting of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who is widely accused of unleashing the Gaza war, was from a retrieved Hamas security video that was apparently recorded three days after the 7 October attack on Israel.
Since then an estimated 41,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in a furious and devastating Israeli bombing response. Yet the prime target Sinwar has remained at large and apparently unscathed.
For our big story this week, the Guardian’s world affairs editor Julian Borger takes up the story of how Sinwar has managed to evade some of the planet’s most accomplished political assassins in Israel’s security forces, what his eventual capture might achieve – and the separate question of whether or not it would end the Israel-Gaza war even if he were to be tracked down.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
1
Spotlight | Another apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Violence and instability have become a feature, not a bug, of US political life, writes Washington DC bureau chief David Smith
2
Environment | Darién Gap migration rush creates a pollution crisis
Isolated communities on the Colombia-Panama border are sounding the alarm over poisoned rivers and cultural erosion after a surge in migrants crossing their ancestral lands, finds Luke Taylor
3
Feature | The age of rage
Anger has come to def ine the public mood – felt in the posts of social media warriors and harnessed by populist agitators. Psychoanalyst Josh Cohen asks why are we so mad, and how can we navigate to calmer waters
4
Opinion | The return of border checks in Germany
The German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s border clampdown threatens the entire European project, argues Maurice Stierl – no wonder the continent’s rightwing populists are cheering
5
Culture | Michael Kiwanuka on faith, family and fulfilment
The Mercury prize-winning musician explains to Alexis Petridis how he went from being a ‘slight weirdo’ to wowing Glastonbury – and why he thinks more people are turning to religion
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What else we’ve been reading
Ahead of the new Women’s Super League season, Sally Williams investigated the epidemic of potentially career-ending knee injuries among female footballers. Up to 30 players missed last year’s World Cup because of anterior cruciate ligament injuries, and women suffer this injury far more often than men. Dismayingly, as more women and girls come into the sport, Williams found that they have to play on second-rate pitches, wearing boots designed for men, while also contending with unequal training regimes. Clare Horton, assistant editor
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | Creating The Spark: the kids behind 2024’s surprise summer hit
• Video | The career of ballerina Michaela DePrince, who has died aged 29
• Gallery | Drone photography awards 2024 – in pictures
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