Two officials familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday that members of Israel’s security cabinet have been informed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is most likely dead.
An Israeli security official said DNA testing is underway to confirm whether the person killed was indeed Sinwar, AFP reports. Israel is believed to have Sinwar’s DNA and other biometric data on file from his time in Israeli prisons.
Israeli army radio reported the incident occurred during a targeted ground operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where Israeli troops killed three militants. The broadcast said visual evidence suggests Sinwar was among those killed.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a statement saying they were “checking the possibility” that Sinwar was among the “three dead terrorists”, whose identities had yet to be confirmed. The IDF added there were no signs of hostages in the building where the strike occurred.
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 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.
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