Israeli forces have been hunting for more than a year for the Hamas leader, who disappeared from Gaza shortly after directing the October 7 attack.
Yahya Sinwar, 61, is said to have spent most of his time hiding in the tunnels under the Strip, along with a team of security guards and a ‘human shield’ for Israeli hostages.
But in the end, it looks like he met his end in our encounter with the Israeli team in southern Gaza. His watch details were small. No hostages have been found.
Details are still emerging, but here’s what we know so far about Sinwar’s murder.
Constant monitoring
The Israel Defense Forces say the 828th Bislach Brigade was patrolling Tal al-Sultan, in the Rafah area, on Wednesday.
Three militants were identified and engaged by Israeli forces – and all were killed.
At the time nothing seemed too remarkable about the firefighting and the soldiers did not return to the scene until Thursday morning.
It was then that when the dead were examined, one of the bodies was found to be very similar to that of the Hamas leader.
The body, however, remained there due to suspicions that it had been rigged and instead, part of the finger was removed and sent to Israel for examination.
His body was eventually exhumed and brought to Israel later that day as the area was secured.
Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the IDF, said his forces “did not know he was there but we continued to work”.
He said his soldiers identified three men who were running from house to house, and had an argument with them before they separated.
The man named Sinwar “ran alone into one of the buildings” and died after being found with a drone.
None of the hostages Sinwar was believed to be using as a human shield was present and his scant traces suggest he was trying to get away unnoticed, or he had lost many of those who protected him.
Joav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, said: “Sinwar died beaten, persecuted and on the run—he died not as a commander, but as someone who only cared for himself. This is a clear message to all our enemies. .”
Sinwar is ‘finished’
Israel first announced that it was “investigating the possibility” that Sinwar was killed in Gaza on Thursday afternoon local time.
Within minutes of the announcement, pictures posted on social media showed the body of a man with features similar to the Hamas leader, with severe head wounds. Images are too graphic to reproduce.
However, officials cautioned that “at this time” the identities of the three killed could not be confirmed.
Not long after, Israeli sources told the BBC that the leaders were “very convinced” that they would kill him. However, they said that all the necessary tests must be done before it can be confirmed that he is dead.
Those tests didn’t last long. On Thursday evening, Israel announced that those tests had been completed and that Sinwar had been certified “finished”.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said the “evil” had been “solved”, and warned that Israel’s war in Gaza was not over.
A tightening loop
While Sinwar was not killed during the targeted operation, the IDF said it had been operating for weeks in areas where intelligence indicated he might be.
In short, the Israeli forces had reduced Sinwar’s difficult position to the southern town of Rafah, and were slowly moving in to find him.
Sinwar had been on the run for over a year. He had no doubt felt Israeli pressure mounting as other Hamas leaders, such as Mohammad Dief and Ismail Haniyeh, were killed, and as Israel destroyed the infrastructure it had used to prosecute the October 7 atrocity.
In a statement, the IDF said its operations in recent weeks in the south “impeded the movement of Yahya Sinwar as he was being pursued by soldiers and led to his removal”.
The ultimate goal, but not the end
The death of Sinwar was the main goal of the war of Israel, which marked the death immediately after the attack of 7 October. But his end does not end the war in Gaza.
While Mr Netanyahu said he had “settled the score with him”, he insisted the war would continue – not to save the 101 hostages still being held by Hamas.
“To the dear families of the hostages, I say: this is an important time in the war. We will continue to work at full capacity until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are at home.”
In Israel, the families of the hostages said that they hope that now an agreement can be reached to end the war that will return the hostages to their homes.
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