On Thursday, Israel’s military announced that it is investigating whether Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed in a recent operation in Gaza. Israeli broadcasters, KAN and N12 News reported that officials believe he has been confirmed dead.
Sinwar is considered Israel’s most wanted man and is thought to be behind the deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. He became the leader of Hamas after Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in an Israeli attack in Tehran on July 31.
During the operation in Gaza, the Israeli army stated, “Three terrorists were eliminated.” They are now verifying if one of them was Sinwar. “At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed,” the military said. They added that there were no signs of hostages in the area where the operation took place, specifically in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah.
Israeli officials told Axios that the operation was “coincidental” and not based on specific intelligence. AFP reported that the army is conducting DNA tests on one of the bodies to see if it belongs to Sinwar.
So far, Hamas has not commented on the reports. This news contradicts earlier claims that Sinwar was hiding underground among the captives during the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Israeli military has been conducting a significant ground offensive in northern Gaza since October 5, with most attacks focusing on the Jabalia refugee camp. Sinwar, who is 62 years old and originally from the Khan Younis refugee camp, was previously imprisoned by Israel for 23 years for his role in violence against suspected collaborators.
In August, Israel claimed to have killed Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing, but Hamas denied this. Last month, Israeli forces also reportedly killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, an ally of Hamas, in an airstrike on Beirut.
