Yahya Sinwar, the commander of Hamas, was killed in a battle Thursday after being traced “going from home to home” in southern Gaza in a desperate attempt to evade detection, according to the Israeli military.
Israel has praised the 61-year-old Sinwar’s passing as one of the most significant setbacks it has inflicted on Hamas since the group’s October 7, 2023 assault ignited the Gaza War.
The Israeli military “confirms that after a year-long pursuit, yesterday (Wednesday), October 16, 2024, IDF (military) soldiers from the Southern Command eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organisation, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.
“The dozens of operations carried out by the IDF and the ISA (Shin Bet internal security agency) over the last year, and in recent weeks in the area where he was eliminated, restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational movement as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination,” it added.
“IDF soldiers of the 828th Brigade (Bislach) operating in the area identified and eliminated three terrorists. After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated.”
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, later reported that Sinwar was killed after being seen in the Rafah sector of the territory with two other combatants.
“The forces idenfitied three terrorists who were going from home to home on the run,” Hagari told a briefing.
After being shot, the party dispersed, and Sinwar was forced to escape as troops engaged them.
“Sinwar ran away alone into one of the buildings and our forces scanned the area with a drone – which you can see in this film — Yahya Sinwar injured his hand in the shooting, who can be seen here covered with his face, he threw a branch at the drone,” said Hagari.
Military drone footage showed Sinwar alone in a blown-up flat, with his head wrapped in a traditional scarf and one hand severely injured. In his last minutes, he threw a stick at the approaching drone.
“We identified him as a terrorist inside a building and we shot into the building and we entered to scan the area. We found him with a gun and 40 thousand shekels. He was on the run and our forces eliminated him,” said Hagari. “Near the terrorists we eliminated were no hostages and our forces are now screening the area,” he added.
Israel claims that Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military, planned the October 7 strikes. Although the Palestinian group has not confirmed it, the Israeli military said Deif was killed in a strike earlier this year. Ismail Haniyeh, the former leader of Hamas, was assassinated in Iran on July 31 and Sinwar took over in August. Regarding Haniyeh’s passing, Israel has remained silent.
The Hamas attack last year resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people on Israeli soil, most of them civilians, according to an tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
According to the health ministry of the Hamas-run region, 42,438 individuals have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military attack in Gaza, the bulk of whom were civilians. The UN acknowledges the figures to be reliable.
