Israel says killed Hamas chief Sinwar in Gaza

By AFP - Oct 17,2024 - Last updated at Oct 17,2024

Head of the political wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar speaks during a meeting in Gaza City on April 30, 2022 (AFP photo)

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel said Thursday its forces killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in a Gaza operation.

The military later confirmed that "after a year-long pursuit", soldiers "eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip" on Wednesday.

Hamas has not confirmed his death.

Israel accuses Sinwar of masterminding the October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israeli history, and had been hunting him down since the start of the Gaza war.

He rose through the ranks of the Palestinian group to become first its leader in Gaza, then its overall head after the killing in July of political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Israel's announcement on Sinwar comes weeks after it assassinated Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a massive strike in Lebanon, where the Israeli military has been at war since late September.

A slew of other Iran-backed militant commanders have also been killed in recent months.

Israel said earlier this year that it had killed Mohammed Deif, Hamas's military chief, though the Palestinian group has not confirmed it.

Deif stood accused of planning, with Sinwar, the October 7 attack.

With Hamas massively weakened more than a year into the Gaza war, Sinwar's death could deal a seismic blow to the organisation.

Before the Israeli foreign minister confirmed Sinwar's death, the military said in a brief statement that during "operations in the Gaza Strip, three terrorists were eliminated", with the Hamas leader possibly one of them.

An Israeli security official told AFP that the military was conducting a DNA test on a militant's body to confirm whether it was Sinwar's.

US President Joe Biden was briefed aboard Air Force One while heading to Germany and was being kept informed of developments, a US official said Thursday.

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