Sinwar died “united with his soldiers in fighting the Israeli army,” Abaad Moslah, 58, a Palestinian displaced from his home in Beit Hanon, told NBC News’ crew in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas leader was “the caring father and the leader of the Palestinian cause,” Moslah added. “May God have mercy upon him.”

For others, Sinwar’s death was an unsurprising outcome for a hardened jihadi militant.

“This is the path of each fighter,” said Ziad Maqdad,  65, a doctor in Gaza who…