Israel has declared dead Yehya al-Sinwar, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Sinwar was killed by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday evening, confirming earlier reports.
“This is an important military and moral victory for Israel and for the entire free world in its struggle against the axis of radical Islam led by Iran,” Katz said in a personal message to his colleagues around the world.
“The elimination of Sinwar opens the door for the immediate release of the hostages and for transformative change in Gaza – a change without Hamas and without Iranian control.”
Hamas and other militant organizations in the Gaza Strip killed more than 1,200 people in a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and abducted another 250 people to the Gaza Strip. Israel says Hamas is still holding 101 people, although it is unclear how many of them are still alive.
No initial response from Hamas
There was no initial response from Hamas.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog praised the military for “eliminating the arch-terrorist” who “for years has been responsible for heinous acts of terror against Israeli citizens, citizens of other countries and the murder of thousands of innocent people.”
In Brussels, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledged al-Sinwar’s death with a brief resignation.
“Personally, I will not miss him,” Rutte said at a press conference at NATO headquarters.
Al-Sinwar topped the Israeli charts from the start of the Gaza war. Before him, Israel killed several top Hamas officials, including Mohammed Deif, the Islamic organization’s military commander.
Israel is also believed to be behind the assassination in Tehran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Al-Sinwar, who had until then been the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, subsequently took over overall leadership of the organization.
The death of the Hamas leader raises the question of whether Hamas has been defeated. Observers do not consider this likely. Al-Sinwar’s brother Mohammed plays an important role in Hamas’s military structure. It is unclear whether he has taken over from Deif.
Experts examined dental photos
Earlier Thursday, Israeli police forensic experts said they assumed the Hamas leader was dead based on a comparison of dental photos.
The forensic experts had compared photos of the teeth from the corpse of one of the men found dead after an Israeli army operation in the Gaza Strip with those of al-Sinwar from his time in Israeli custody. Israeli media initially reported that they had found a match.
DNA analysis followed, which was considered definitive proof of the deceased’s identity, the reports said.
It has not yet been possible to recover the body because the entire area was full of booby traps, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported.
“Three terrorists were eliminated during IDF operations in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement earlier Thursday.
“In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area. Armed forces operating in the area continue to operate with caution.”
The mastermind behind the attacks of October 7, 2023
Al-Sinwar had been head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip since 2017. Since then, he has repeatedly tried to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip, which was tightened by Israel in 2006 and supported by Egypt over the years.
He was born in 1962 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. His family is from the area around the coastal city of Ashkelon, which is now part of Israel.
Al-Sinwar was convicted by Israel in 1988 for the murders of four suspected collaborators and two Israeli soldiers and spent more than two years in prison in Israel.
The 61-year-old Hamas chief was believed to be the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the current Gaza war.
The attack is the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
At least fifteen killed in attack on former school in Gaza
In other news from the Gaza conflict, at least 15 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a former school building in northern Gaza, a Kamal Adwan hospital spokesman said Thursday.
The Israeli military said its air force “conducted a precise strike on an operational meeting point for Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.”
Dozens of militants were in the building at the time of the attack, according to an army statement.
The slain militants “were involved in rocket attacks on Israeli territory, as well as in planning and committing terrorist attacks against IDF forces and the State of Israel in recent days,” the report said.
The former school building was used as shelter for displaced people, with tents visible in an army infographic.
Local media reported that civilians had been killed in the attack on the Jabalia refugee district.
According to Hamas-led authorities, more than 42,400 people were killed and nearly 100,000 injured during Israel’s campaign in Gaza following the October 7 attacks last year.
