JERUSALEM, Oct. 17 - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) jointly confirmed Thursday that Israeli soldiers killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
"IDF soldiers from the Southern Command eliminated Yahya Sinwar ... during an operation in the southern Gaza Strip," the Israeli army said in a statement.
The IDF said its soldiers killed three gunmen in the operation, and it later emerged that one of them was Sinvar, who "was responsible for the murder and kidnapping of many Israelis".
According to the statement, Sinwar was killed after hiding behind Gaza's civilian population for the past year, both above and below ground, in Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip.
"Dozens of operations carried out by the IDF and the ISA over the past year and in recent weeks in the area where he was eliminated have limited Sinwar's operational movement as he was pursued by forces and led to his elimination," is stated in the declaration.
Shortly before the IDF announcement, the Israeli foreign minister confirmed Sinwar's death Yisrael Katz in a report to the foreign ministers of the other countries and said that "it is a great military and moral achievement for Israel".
According to the Foreign Minister. "the elimination of Sinwar creates the opportunity for the immediate release of the kidnapped Israelis and for the establishment of change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza free from the control of both Hamas and Iran."
The Israel Defense Forces have previously said three Palestinian militants were killed in fighting in Gaza, and one of them could be Sinwar.
On his X account, the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant first published photographs of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas military commander Muhammad Deif - both with red crosses drawn over them as they were liquidated earlier. Among these photographs is also a black rectangle with another cross above it. The images are accompanied by a quote from the biblical book of Leviticus: "You shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you."
Later he added the middle picture with the text: "Another mission accomplished"
Israeli President Isaac Herzog today praised Israeli forces for killing the Hamas leader and said Sinwar was "responsible for heinous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians, citizens of other countries and the murder of thousands of innocent people".
"Now, more than ever, we must act in every way possible to bring back the 101 hostages who are still being held in horrific conditions by Hamas terrorists in Gaza," stated in a post on the X network.
Sinwar was born in Gaza and was one of the founders of Hamas' military wing. He spent more than 22 years in Israeli prisons before being released in 2011 as part of a deal to exchange 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. In 2017, Sinwar became the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and this August he was elected head of the entire group. He replaced Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran in July.
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