TEL AVIV: Israel announced it killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the militants’ October 7, 2023, terror attack that sparked the Gaza war.
Israeli forces — apparently by chance and without knowledge of Sinwar’s location — encountered him and two other militants in a southern Gaza building and opened fire.
Israel almost immediately suspected it had killed the 61-year-old Sinwar but only confirmed it after hours of investigation, including checking his DNA and dental records.
“Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF soldiers,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Katz called Sinwar’s killing a “military and moral achievement for the Israeli army.”
“The assassination of Sinwar will create the possibility to immediately release the hostages and to bring a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza — without Hamas and without Iranian control,” he said.
But the immediate impact of Sinwar’s death was uncertain. Talks for a cease-fire in the Gaza fighting have been stalemated for months, with both Hamas and Israel balking at the details in any halt to the conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a recorded video statement in Hebrew following Sinwar’s death, told Gaza residents, “He ruined your lives,” saying it was their chance to get rid of his tyranny.
“Today, evil took a heavy blow — the mission ahead of us is still unfinished,” Netanyahu said. He characterized Sinwar’s death as “an important milestone in the sunset of Hamas’ rule in Gaza.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement, “This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.”
(VOA)
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