Hamas acknowledges leader Sinwar killed in Gaza Strip
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, allegedly the main architect of the group’s cross-border raids in 2023 that became the deadliest day in Israel’s history, was killed in combat, Khalil al-Hayya, deputy Gaza Hamas chief and the group’s chief negotiator, says.
Al-Hayya told Hamas-run al-Aqsa broadcaster that he mourned the death of the “martyr” Sinwar.
The Israeli army previously released a video showing what it said were Sinwar’s final moments.
The footage, recorded by a drone, shows a man sitting in a bombed-out building, cloaked in dust and debris.
As the drone hovers closer, he throws a stick at the remote-controlled aircraft.
Shortly after the drone footage was taken, the military said that Sinwar was killed in Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip.
“Since the beginning of this war that Sinwar started on October 7 — we’ve said: Our war is with Hamas, not the people of Gaza. We mean it.”IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari on the elimination of Yahya Sinwar and our operational goals in Gaza: pic.twitter.com/OgkgUc5Bhi— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 17, 2024
Sinwar’s death, which follows Israeli assassinations of other Hamas leaders and commanders, will deal a huge blow to the militant group which has faced relentless air strikes since it attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
It also dragged about 250 people back to the Gaza Strip, creating a hostage crisis for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government which has vowed to eliminate Hamas.
Sinwar will be remembered as a ruthless enforcer among Palestinians who collaborated with Israel and an implacable enemy of the country which jailed him for many years.
Sinwar was named the group’s paramount leader on August 6, as a successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran on July 31.
Widely considered the architect of the October 7, 2023 attack, the most devastating event for Israel in decades, Sinwar has been in the Gaza Strip defying Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the war.
Born in a refugee camp in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, Sinwar, 62, was elected as Hamas’ leader in Gaza in 2017.
Sinwar, who spent half his adult life in Israeli prisons, was the most powerful Hamas leader left alive following the assassination of Haniyeh.
with DPA
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