In a massive blow to the organisation it has been fighting since the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel claimed Thursday that its soldiers have killed Hamas head Yahya Sinwar in a Gaza operation.<\/p>\n
Israel Katz, the foreign minister, announced in a statement that “Yahya Sinwar, responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was eliminated… by IDF (Israeli military) soldiers. Soldiers “eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas organisation, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip” on Wednesday, the military subsequently announced, “after a year-long pursuit.”
\nHamas has not confirmed his death.<\/p>\n
Israel has been pursuing Sinwar since the beginning of the Gaza War, accusing him of planning the October 7 attack, which was the bloodiest in Israeli history.<\/p>\n
Although the Palestinian organisation has not verified it, Israel claimed earlier this year that it had assassinated Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.
\nDeif was charged with organising the October 7 attack alongside Sinwar. Sinwar’s passing might be a devastating blow to Hamas, which has been severely damaged more than a year into the conflict in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Before the Israeli foreign minister officially announced Sinwar’s passing, the IDF claimed in a terse statement that “three terrorists were eliminated” during “operations in the Gaza Strip,” with the Hamas leader presumably among them.<\/p>\n