Israeli forces killed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, during a routine patrol in the southern city of Rafah on Thursday.
Sinwar, 61, had been in hiding since plotting the October 7 attacks. According to Israeli intelligence, he was believed to have spent much of his time in tunnels beneath Gaza, guarded by a cadre of bodyguards and using hostages as human shields.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops from the 828th Bislamach Brigade were patrolling the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah on Wednesday when they encountered three fighters. All three were killed in the ensuing firefight.
It was not until Thursday morning when soldiers returned to inspect the bodies, that one was found to resemble the Hamas leader. Due to concerns about booby traps, a finger was removed and sent to Israel for testing before the body was extracted later that day.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the troops “didn’t know he was there but we continued to operate”. He explained that soldiers had spotted the three men moving between houses before engaging them.
The man later identified as Sinwar “ran alone into one of the buildings” where he was located using a drone and killed, Hagari said.
No hostages were found with Sinwar, and his small security detail suggested he was either trying to move undetected or had lost many of his protectors.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Sinwar “died while beaten, persecuted and on the run – he didn’t die as a commander, but as someone who only cared for himself”.
The IDF released drone footage purportedly showing Sinwar’s final moments. The video appears to show a man with his head covered sitting in an armchair in a damaged building, throwing what looks like a stick at the approaching drone.
Raw footage of Yahya Sinwar’s last moments: pic.twitter.com/GJGDlu7bie
— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) October 17, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “evil” had been “dealt a blow” but warned that the war in Gaza was not over.
The IDF stated that recent operations in southern Gaza had “restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational movement” and led to his death.
Officials stressed that the war would continue, particularly to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages held by Hamas.
“To the dear hostage families, I say: this is an important moment in the war. We will continue full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home”, Netanyahu said.
Who was Sinwar
Sinwar, 61, was named the overall chief of Hamas in August after the killing of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. He previously served as the group’s political leader inside the Gaza Strip since 2017.
Born in Khan Younis refugee camp in 1962, Sinwar founded Hamas’ security service, Majd, in the late 1980s. He spent much of his life in Israeli prisons and was released in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange.
Israeli security agencies believe Sinwar masterminded the October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which killed over 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
In response, Israel has killed at least 42,438 Palestinians, with 99,246 wounded. It has also killed around 3,000 in Lebanon and Syria, while around 3 million people have been displaced from their homes as a result of the war.
Experts, governments, United Nations agencies, and non-governmental organisations have accused Israel of carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people.
