- Israel has been investigating whether Sinwar was killed in an IDF operation
Yahya Sinwar has been eliminated in Gaza, Israeli media has reported citing senior officials, with the Hamas chief reportedly identified by his teeth and DNA tests said to be ongoing.
Israel has been investigating whether Sinwar was killed in a ground operation by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) which left three terrorists dead, with official confirmation expected in the coming hours.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant wrote on X: ‘We will reach every terrorist – and eliminate him,’ adding soon after ‘our enemies cannot hide.’
Gallant attached a photo with a red cross over a blank slot – seemingly referencing Sinwar – between Hamas commander Mohammad Deif and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, each of whom were assassinated this year and were also crossed out.
Senior Israeli officials said security sources consider there to be a ‘high probability’ that Sinwar was eliminated, Israeli news outlet N12 reports, though reports have still not been confirmed.
It comes as graphic images have circulated online purporting to show the body of the terrorist leader with Israeli soldiers surrounding it.
The grim pictures show what appears to be a corpse resembling Sinwar lying on a pile of rubble, with a catastrophic head wound and injuries all over his body.
Israeli soldiers are pictured surrounding a corpse which resembles Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar
Israel accuses Sinwar (pictured) of masterminding the unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war
Sinwar has been a prime target for Israeli forces since October 7, but they have allegedly been hesitant to make an assassination attempt amid reports that he was surrounded by Israeli hostages and was carrying a bag packed with explosives.
It is believed that Sinwar has been moving from place to place without the hostages since the end of August, when six abductees – Carmel Gat, Hirsch Goldberg-Poulin, Alex Lubnov, Almog Sarosi, Uri Danino and the late Aden Yerushalmi – were found dead in a tunnel, according to a new report by N12.
The Israeli military said in a statement this afternoon that during the operation which saw three terrorists killed, including one suspected to be Sinwar, ‘no signs of the presence of abductees were found in the area.’
Israel said its ground forces had identified a group of terrorists in a building in an unknown location in Gaza, fired at them, and then an exchange of fire began.
The force entered the building and saw that one of the terrorists resembled Sinwar, according to reports.
The man’s corpse is now reportedly being examined with DNA and dental tests to ascertain whether it does belong to the Hamas leader.
While there has not yet been any official confirmation, officials told Israeli media that Sinwar was eliminated, Reuters reports.
‘This is a day of closing accounts and a message to all terrorists – we will haunt you until your last day anywhere on the globe,’ a source reportedly told N12.
US President Joe Biden has been briefed by senior aides on Sinwar’s possible death, a White House official has said.
When asked whether the UK government would want to see action in Gaza scaled down if he is confirmed dead, a Number 10 spokeswoman said: ‘We stand by their right to self-defence and to prevent such a terror attack from ever happening again.
‘As you know, Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation.’
She added that the government’s ‘priorities’ continue to be securing a ceasefire, getting more aid into Gaza and ensuring the release of Israeli hostages.
If reports Sinwar is dead are correct, British defence secretary John Healey said: ‘I for one, will not mourn the death of a terror leader like Sinwar – someone who was responsible for the terror attack on October 7.’
Sinwar is widely considered to be the chief architect the October 7 attacks on Israel, which saw 1,200 people killed and 250 taken hostage by Hamas and other terror groups, according to Israeli tallies.
Following the massacre, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht vowed that Israeli troops would not rest until he was found and killed, and declared him a ‘dead man walking’.
The black and white images (one pictured above), reportedly taken on October 10, show a man said to be Sinwar being led through a tunnel together with a woman and three children are said to be the first of him since the Israel-Hamas war broke out
He has remained elusive throughout the year-long war in Gaza, hiding in the Hamas tunnel network beneath the Strip.
The only apparent glimpse of him came in a video filmed just a couple of days after the bloody conflict erupted.
The black and white images, uncovered by IDF troops during a raid earlier this year, show a man believed to be Sinwar making his way through a tunnel along with his wife and three children, while carrying a large bag.
‘In that bag is about 25kg of dynamite. Around him are at least 20 hostages,’ according to Kobi Michael, Sinwar’s former Shin Bet interrogator.
‘A few times we have had the chance to kill him, but if we do, he will kill all the hostages around him.’
Sinwar became the Iran-backed Palestinian group’s new leader after the killing of its former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in July.
Hamas and Iran blame Israel for Haniyeh’s killing in an attack in Tehran, but Israel has not commented on it.
Sinwar became the Iran-backed Palestinian group’s new leader after the killing of its former political chief Ismail Haniyeh (left) in July
Israel’s announcement on Sinwar comes weeks after it assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a massive strike in Lebanon, where its military has escalated a war since late September.
A slew of other Iran-backed militant commanders have also been killed in recent months.
Israel said earlier this year that it had killed Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s military chief, in a strike, though the Palestinian group has not confirmed it.
Deif stood accused of working with Sinwar to plan the October 7 attack.
With Hamas massively weakened more than a year into the Gaza war, Sinwar’s death, if confirmed, would deal a seismic blow to the organisation.