JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip have killed Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who masterminded last year's attack on Israel that triggered the war, the military announced Thursday. The troops apparently encountered him unknowingly during the battle, but later discovered that the body in the rubble was Israel’s most wanted man.
Just over a year after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others in an attack that shocked the country, Israeli leaders celebrated his killing as a reconciliation of dozens. Ta. They also marked this as a turning point in the operation to annihilate Hamas, urging Hamas to surrender and release the approximately 100 hostages still remaining in Gaza.
“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza. This is the beginning of Hamas' next day,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
U.S. officials have expressed hope that a ceasefire with Shinwar is off the table. But removing him may not end Israel’s devastating war, which has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and killed more than 42,000 Palestinians. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but says more than half of those killed were women and children.
Sinwar’s death is a devastating blow to Hamas, but the Iranian-backed group has proven resilient to the loss of past leaders. There was no immediate confirmation of Mr. Sinwar’s death from Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel would continue fighting until all the hostages were freed, to ensure that Hamas does not rearm (effectively an occupation that increases the likelihood that fighting will continue for months or even years). He said he would maintain control of Gaza long enough.
Earlier this month, Israel opened a new front in its war with Hezbollah, stepping up artillery fire in Lebanon and launching ground operations against the Iranian-backed militia after a year of cross-border firefights.
“Our war is not over yet,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech about Shinwar’s death.
President Joe Biden said Sinwar’s death paves the way for “a political solution that provides a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians.” He said he would speak with Netanyahu “to discuss a path forward to bring the hostages home to their families and end this war once and for all."
Mr. Shinwar has been the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip for many years. He was elevated to the group’s top leadership position in July after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an attack believed to be carried out by Israel in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
In the past few months, Israel has eliminated Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in a series of airstrikes. Israel claims to have killed Hamas’s military chief, Mohamed Deif, but the organization says he survived.
But in Shinwar’s case, the military discovered him by chance.
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said the Israeli military had identified three Hamas militants fleeing from building to building in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city. The military tried to shoot them before they could escape into the building.
The Israeli military released drone footage of Sinwar’s final moments. In a room destroyed by shelling, a man was sitting on a chair with his face covered with a cloth, perhaps to hide his identity. The video showed a man with an injured hand throwing a stick at the drone.
The military then fired additional shells at the building, causing it to collapse and killing Shinwar, Hagari said. He said Sinwar was found with a bulletproof vest, hand grenades and 40,000 shekels ($10,707).
Hagari said some of Sinwar’s DNA had previously been found in a tunnel near where the military discovered the bodies of six hostages in late August. He said the military believed Mr Singhwar had come out of hiding after weeks of search operations in the area.
Photos circulating online showed the body of a man resembling Shinwar, with a severe head wound and wearing a military vest, half-buried in the rubble of a destroyed building. A security official confirmed that the photos were taken by Israeli security officials at the scene. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The military said three militants were killed in the operation. Police said one of them was identified as Shinwar through dental records, fingerprints and DNA testing. Mr. Sinwar was imprisoned by Israel from the late 1980s until 2011, during which time he was treated for a brain tumor and left extensive medical records with Israeli authorities.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Hamas fighters: “It’s time to come out, release the hostages, raise your hands and surrender.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “come to terms” with the mastermind behind the October 7 attack and that “evil has suffered a great blow.” But, he added, “the task before us is not yet complete.”
He said anyone within Hamas who handed over weapons and assisted in the return of hostages would be allowed to leave Gaza safely. About a third of the prisoners remaining in Gaza are thought to have died.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Thursday night demanding the release of the hostages after news of Sinwar’s death. Some held placards that read “End of Sinwar, End of War.”
Ifat Calderon, whose cousin Ofer Calderon is being held hostage in Gaza, said he was happy that Shinwar had died, but was “scared for the 101 hostages.” …They might kill them or do something because of Sinwar’s murder. ”
In the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, a Palestinian woman forced from her home in the north said she hoped Mr. Sinwar’s death would bring an end to the Israeli expedition. “Do they have any more goals than that? Enough. We want to go back,” said the woman, Umm Mohammed.
Some hailed Sinwar as a symbol of resistance to Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank. Ahmed Hamdouna, who also fled his home in northern Gaza, said Hamas could replace him. “After a leader will come a thousand leaders; after that man a thousand will come,” he said.
Over a week. Israeli forces are waging a ground campaign in Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, claiming they are fighting regrouped Hamas fighters.
At least 28 people were killed on Thursday when Israeli military strikes hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Jabaliya, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The dead included a woman and four children, said Fares Abu Hamza, head of the Northern Gaza Emergency Response Unit at the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military said it targeted a command center operated by Hamas and Islamic Jihad inside the school. The report provided a list of the names of about a dozen people it identified as militants who were present when the strike was called, but the names could not be immediately confirmed.
Israel has repeatedly attacked tent camps and schools sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military says it carries out targeted attacks against militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but its attacks often kill women and children.
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Sami Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Jack Jeffrey in Jerusalem and Kareem Chehaib in Beirut contributed to this report.
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