The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar believed by Israel to be chief architect of the militant group’s deadly October 7, 2023, terror attack that set off the war in Gaza, had been killed in battle.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that Sinwar was killed on Wednesday after a “year-long pursuit.”
“In recent weeks, IDF and ISA forces, under the command of the Southern Command, have been operating in the southern Gaza Strip, following IDF and ISA intelligence that indicated the suspected locations of senior members of Hamas,” the Israeli military statement read.
“IDF soldiers of the 828th Brigade (Bislach) operating in the area identified and eliminated three terrorists. After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated.”
Two Israeli sources familiar with the matter told CNN earlier that Israeli forces encountered Sinwar during a routine military operation.
The sources said that Israeli infantry troops encountered three militants near a building in Gaza and engaged them. After the battle ended, troops found a body resembling Sinwar and alerted senior commanders.
Israel had also confirmed to US officials that Sinwar was dead according to initial DNA testing, another person familiar with the matter said.
Dental records helped Israel identify Sinwar, a US official and former official familiar with the matter said, in addition to other biometrics. The dental confirmation was able to be conducted relatively quickly, the official said. The Israeli government has Sinwar’s biometrics because he spent more than two decades in Israeli imprisonment for murder.
According to Israeli Army Radio, which is state funded and operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Israeli military detected “suspicious movement” on the upper floor of a building, so fired at it with a tank. Later, the radio station said, a drone scanned the area of the attack, and soldiers recognized the face of Sinwar in the rubble.
The IDF had previously detected “unusual activity” in the area, the radio station reported, so decided last week to “increase scans and not to leave.”
Hamas has yet to make any comment on its leader.
Sinwar was long Israel’s most wanted man in the strip, but he remained elusive.
