Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas and the organizer of the attack on Israel on October 7, which started the war in Gaza, was killed yesterday in an unexpected encounter with members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). His killing in Gaza represents a huge success for Israel and is a key event in the year-long conflict, Reuters reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last night that the death of Sinvar provides an opportunity for peace in the Middle East, but warned that the war in Gaza is not over and that Israel will continue until its hostages are returned.
Earlier, the Israeli army and police conducted DNA analyzes on a body believed to belong to their archenemy.
"Today we settled our scores. Today evil was dealt a blow, but our task is still not over," Netanyahu said in a videotaped statement. "To the families of the dear hostages, I say: this is an important moment in the war. We will continue with full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home."
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the killing of Sinvar is "a great military and moral success for Israel and a victory for the entire free world in the fight against the axis of evil of radical Islam led by Iran." "Sinwar's killing creates an opportunity for the immediate release of the hostages and for a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza - without Hamas and without Iranian control," Katz added.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant addressed Hamas fighters last night, saying: "It's time to come out, release the hostages, raise your hands, surrender."
US President Joe Biden said that the death of Yahja Sinvar represents a moment of relief for the Israelis, while it provides an opportunity for "the day after" in Gaza without that militant group in power.
"Yahja Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us," Biden said in a statement. "I will soon be speaking with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them, to discuss a path to return the hostages to their families and to end this war once and for all, which has caused so much devastation to innocent people.
In Israel, families of hostages held by Hamas expressed hope that a ceasefire could now be reached to allow the return of the captives. In Gaza, residents said they believed the war would continue.
Sinwar's death would be a major victory for the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the devastating war in the Palestinian enclave enters its second year.
Sinwar, who was named Hamas' top leader after the assassination of political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, is believed to be hiding in a network of tunnels built by Hamas under Gaza over the past two decades.
It was long believed that Sinwar surrounded himself with Israeli hostages to protect himself from being killed. However, a statement from Netanyahu's office stated that it is not believed that the hostages were present.
His death could further intensify hostilities in the Middle East, where the possibility of a wider conflict is growing. But Reuters points out that the death of the man who masterminded the attack last year, in which fighters killed 1.200 people in Israel and took more than 250 hostages, could also help speed up efforts to end the war he started, in which more than 42.000 Palestinians have died so far.
In Israel, families of hostages held by Hamas expressed hope that a ceasefire could now be reached to allow the return of the captives. In Gaza, residents said they believed the war would continue.
Israel's military radio reported that Sinwar was killed during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, during which Israeli troops killed three militants and recovered their bodies. Israel's Khan Radio reported that the Hamas leader was killed "accidentally" and not as a result of intelligence gathering. Israel's Channel 12 reported that an infantry battalion, operating alongside a tank unit, spotted a group of men running into the building. The forces opened fire using tank shells.
Disturbing footage from the scene, broadcast on Israeli media, showed a body in uniform, with a severe head injury, on a pile of rubble in a destroyed building.
DON'T MISS IT
Israel spared no resources in its pursuit of Sinwar, employing a task force of intelligence officers, special operations units, military engineers and surveillance experts within the Israel Security Agency. However, in the end it seems that Sinvar was killed during a regular patrol, the Associated Press agency points out.
Sinwar was a ruthless taskmaster, once in charge of punishing Palestinians suspected of being spies for Israel. He became a hero on the streets after serving a 22-year sentence in an Israeli prison for organizing the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians. After that, he quickly rose through the ranks of Hamas and became one of the most important leaders, dedicated to the elimination of Israel.
Sinvar considered himself an expert on the Israeli military and politics. He spoke fluent Hebrew, which he learned during more than 20 years spent in Israeli prisons, and has been the driving force behind Hamas's strategy in recent years: to convince Israel that the group has given up the fight, before launching a surprise attack.
People who were in contact with Sinwar claim that he never repented of the attack on October 7 last year, despite the Israeli invasion that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed Gaza and significantly weakened Hamas's ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
Along with his brother Mohamed, a senior Hamas commander, Sinwar is believed to be the last Hamas leader on Israel's hit list drawn up after the October 7 attack.
As news of Sinvar's possible death spread, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant posted a message on the X social network with a biblical quote: "And you will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword - Leviticus 26. Our enemies cannot are hiding. We are chasing them and we will eliminate them."
Al-Majd, a Hamas-affiliated website that usually publishes information on security issues, urged Palestinians to wait for official information about Sinwar from the group itself and not from Israeli media, which it said was aimed at breaking their spirits.
Yesterday, when asked about the alleged killing of Sinwar, NATO chief Mark Rute said: "If he is dead, I personally will not miss him." Earlier yesterday, an Israeli attack on northern Gaza killed 19 Palestinians, including children, at a school in the Jabalia camp , where displaced people are housed, a Gaza Health Ministry official told Reuters. The Israeli army said that there were dozens of militants at the site and that it carried out a precision attack on the meeting place of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group inside the compound. Hamas has denied using the school.
Bonus video:
