The Israeli army confirmed the killing of Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, in the Gaza Strip, at dawn on Thursday. Hamas sources told Reuters that there are indications that Sinwar was killed in an Israeli operation in Gaza. The Israeli army added that there were no signs of hostages in the area where Sinwar was killed.
On Thursday, the Israeli army announced that it had targeted 3 militants in Gaza, and said that its examinations had proven that one of them was Sinwar, after doubts about his identity.
A DNA sample from the body was sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute, and dental images were sent to the Police Forensic Unit. The DNA sample was compared to a sample from Sinwar that was collected while he was in an Israeli prison.
The army and the Shin Bet internal security service said that dozens of operations took place over the past year and the past few weeks in the area where Sinwar was killed, which “limited Yahya Sinwar’s ability to work… and led to his elimination.”
Israeli media outlets, including Haaretz and The Times of Israel, reported that money, identity documents, and combat equipment were found on the bodies of Hamas members. The forces that confronted the elements in the area were not preparing for a targeted killing operation and did not have prior intelligence information indicating that Sinwar was there.
Regarding the details of the military operation, Haaretz reported that the soldiers who killed the three Hamas members were originally training to become team leaders, and were not part of a commando unit. The unit was working in the area to locate Hamas members.
She explained that before dawn on Thursday, the forces began to suspect the presence of Hamas members in the building and opened fire, and tank shells and shoulder-fired missiles were also used.
The forces then used drones to inspect the building and locate the bodies. Explosive devices were also planted in the building, and combat engineers were deployed to the site and neutralized.
Sinwar had been hiding in tunnels in Gaza since October 7 while trying to evade Israel’s pursuit. He maintained contact with his senior leaders for 11 months, and indirectly with countries mediating a possible deal for the release of the hostages and for a ceasefire with Israel.
Haaretz reported that, last September, it was revealed that Sinwar had not been in contact with anyone outside the tunnels for a relatively long period.
In February, the Israeli army published a video showing Sinwar inside one of the organization’s tunnels in Khan Yunis, which it said was taken on October 10.
Military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said the video also showed his brother, two children and one of his wives. In August, Hamas announced that Sinwar had been appointed political leader of the group after the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in a targeted killing in Iran that was attributed to Israel.
Hebrew media reported that the Israeli security establishment had known for months that Sinwar was hiding in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, according to what the Times of Israel reported.
She explained that the security establishment believed that Sinwar was hiding underground and was all this time with the six hostages who were recovered by the Israeli army in late August after their killing.
Based on all this intelligence information, the newspaper reported that the Israeli army announced an operation in Tal al-Sultan that it claimed was aimed at eliminating the Hamas brigade in the neighborhood, according to Hebrew media.
The Israeli army did not have accurate intelligence information about Sinwar’s whereabouts, and the soldiers who killed him yesterday, Wednesday, did not realize that it was him until after the incident occurred.
“We didn’t know”
At the site in the Gaza Strip where Sinwar was killed, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy indicated that the Israeli army had no prior intelligence information that Sinwar was there.
“Look, we’ve done a lot of special forces operations in this war, where we had excellent information, and we sent prepared forces with instructions where to go,” he said. “But here, we didn’t know. And the response is very strong,” she said.The Times of Israel“.
He added that the decision of the Southern Command and the Gaza Division to hold on to the territories in Gaza and actively operate there was correct.
The page of the Israeli army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, on “X” on Thursday published a statement stating that the Israeli army and the Shin Bet announced that at the end of a year-long manhunt, army forces in the southern Gaza Strip eliminated Sinwar, who plotted, planned and supervised the implementation of the horrific massacre in October 7th…”
He explained, “Al-Sinwar was eliminated after a year during which he hid among the civilian population, in bunkers above and below ground, and in Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip.”
He pointed out that “the army and Shin Bet carried out dozens of operations over recent months that led to reducing Sinwar’s operating area, which finally resulted in his elimination.”
The statement stressed that “over recent weeks, the Israeli army and the Shin Bet forces, led by the Southern Military District and the Gaza Division, have been working in the southern Gaza Strip area based on intelligence information from the Shin Bet and the Intelligence Agency, which indicated suspicious areas within which Hamas leaders may be present.”
He said that a force from the 828th Brigade operated in the area and spotted and killed three gunmen. After completing the process of identifying the body, they confirmed that Sinwar had been killed.
The army and the Shin Bet security service have killed several senior Hamas members in recent months. These include Muhammad al-Deif, the group’s military commander whose death has not yet been confirmed by Hamas, Marwan Issa, Deif’s deputy, Rafi Salama, commander of the Hama-affiliated Khan Yunis Brigade, Ayman Nofal, commander of the Central Gaza Brigade, and Ahmed Randoor, commander of the North Gaza Brigade.
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