The Israeli military said Thursday it is “checking the possibility” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was among three militants killed in Gaza during its operations in the enclave.
Sinwar was declared Hamas’ new political head in August following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
If he is indeed dead, killing the man accused of being the architect of the Oct. 7 terror attack would be a major coup for Israel and its war in the Gaza Strip.
In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, said at least three militants were killed in a building. They did not expand on how they were killed.
In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, officials were investigating whether one of the three militants killed during a recent operation in Gaza was Sinwar.
The IDF and Shin bet said there were “no signs of the presence of hostages in the area” of the building where the three militants were killed.
“The forces that are operating in the area are continuing to operate with the required caution,” they added, saying more details would follow.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote in a post on X on Thursday: “Chase the enemy, and they will fall upon your sword.”
“We will reach every terrorist — and eliminate him,” he said.
The IDF has previously vowed to capture Sinwar “dead or alive.”
National Security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was aware of reports Sinwar may be dead, but said it has not independently confirmed the possibility.
Sinwar had been in charge of day-to-day governance in Gaza prior to Oct. 7, 2023, and was named Hamas’ new political head after Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike on his residence in Tehran. Haniyeh had been attending the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel, which typically remains silent on targeted assassinations, is believed to have carried out the attack.
Israeli officials blasted the decision to install Sinwar as the militant group’s political leader, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz branding Sinwar an “arch-murderer” and saying his appointment was “another reason to bring about his quick elimination and erasing the memory of this organization from the face of the earth.”
“There is only one place reserved for Yahya Sinwar and that is next to Mohammed Al-Deif, Marwan Issa, and the rest of the Hamas ISIS members responsible for the October 7 massacre whom we killed,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said at the time in a post on X.
The already elusive Hamas leader has been in hiding since Oct. 7 and was believed to have been concealed within the elaborate tunnel system used by Hamas militants in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
Some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage into Gaza in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks.
More than 42,400 people have been killed in Gaza in the more than a year that has passed since Israel launched a deadly offensive in the enclave following the attacks, which marked a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.
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