Yahya Sinwar has been Hamas's top leader inside the Gaza Strip for years, closely connected to its military wing - Al-Qassam Brigades - while significantly strengthening its capabilities. Sinwar was elevated to Hamas's highest spot in July after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an alleged Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.
Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7, 2023, war-triggering attack on Israel led by Palestinian militant outfit Hamas, was killed by Israeli forces, a casualty being celebrated as "settling of scores" by Tel Aviv, adding that the war "has not yet ended".
For Hamas, which confirmed Sinwar's death on Friday, this fatality is a big blow in its war with Israel which started after October 7, 2023, when the outfit infiltrated from the Gaza Strip into bordering areas in Israel under what the outfit later termed was ‘Operation Al Aqsa Flood'. This escalated into a full-blown war between the two sides after Israel’s Netanyahu vowed to exact a price for the October 7 massacre.
Yahya Sinwar has been Hamas's top leader inside the Gaza Strip for years, closely connected to its military wing - Al-Qassam Brigades - while significantly strengthening its capabilities. Sinwar was elevated to Hamas's highest spot in July after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an alleged Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.
In the past months, Israel has eliminated a string of senior figures from Hamas and its ally Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant outfit, with airstrikes. Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful armed force, is a close ally and a proxy of Iran, which supports Palestinian groups like Hamas.
Israel has claimed to have killed the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike, but the group has said he survived.
Israeli troops found Sinwar by chance.
An Israeli military official, cited in an Associated Press report, said that Yahya Sinwar "engaged in combat” with Israeli troops operating in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, and was spotted running into a building. The army reportedly hit the building with tank fire.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity under military briefing rules, said Yahya Sinwar was not the target of that day's specific operations even though the Israeli Army had suspected a number of top Hamas officials including Sinwar were in the vicinity.
Visiting the site of the killing, Israel Army chief Herzi Halevi said that while the the military had carried out “many special operations in the war with "excellent information", here they did not have that. "The response was very, very strong,” Halevi added.
A video circulating on social media, being claimed to be of Yahya Sinwar's last moments, showed a man sitting on a couch surrounded by rubble of what looks like a building struck by something destructive or in this case, Israeli military's tank fire.
The video showed the man, believed to be Yahya Sinwar, throwing an object towards the drone recording the scene.
Images and videos circulating on social media showed the body of a man resembling Sinwar with a gaping head wound, dressed in a military-style vest, half buried in the rubble of a destroyed building.
The security official confirmed Israeli security officials took the photos at the scene.
Confirming the casualty, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday in a social media post wrote “Eliminated: Yahya Sinwar."
The Israeli military said three militants were killed in the operation. Police said one of them was confirmed as Sinwar by dental records and fingerprints, and DNA tests were ongoing. Sinwar was imprisoned by Israel from the late 1980s until 2011, and during that time he underwent treatment for brain cancer – leaving Israeli authorities with extensive medical records.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sinwar's death "settling of scores" but added, “Our war has not yet ended.” Besides seeking the release of hostages, Netanyahu has said Israel must keep long-term control over Gaza to ensure Hamas does not rearm -- opening the possibility of continued fighting.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant gave a message to Hamas fighter that “it is time to go out, release the hostages, raise your hands, surrender.”
Netanyahu said it was an “important moment in the war” to bring home the hostages and that anyone in Hamas who surrendered weapons and assisted with hostage's return would be allowed to leave Gaza safely.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza to eliminate Hamas after the militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. Some 100 captives are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel's offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry that does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says women and children make up a little more than half of the fatalities.