The mastermind of the 7 October attack that triggered the current war in Gaza has been killed in a neighbourhood of Rafah
Israel has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza. Here is what we know so far:
Israel’s military said it had killed Sinwar, who is seen as the architect of the 7 October attack in Israel, in Gaza. In a statement, the IDF said: “After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated.”
The statement came shortly after the Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, also said Sinwar had been killed. “Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of 7 October, was killed today by IDF soldiers,” Katz said in a statement.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described Sinwar’s death as “the beginning of the end” but warned the “task before us is not yet complete”. In a press conference, Netanyahu said Israel will continue to work until the end of the war.
To the people of Israel, Netanyahu said that there are “a lot of challenges still facing us” and that “we have to remain resilient” and “stand firm on our ground and to continue to fight”. He added: “We will not stop the war. We will go into Rafah.”
The US president, Joe Biden said Israeli reports that Sinwar had been killed marked a “good day” for Israel, the US and the world and compared it to how Americans felt after Osama bin Laden’s death. Biden said in a statement that DNA tests confirmed Sinwar’s death. Biden reportedly spoke to Netanyahu and they agreed to work towards a deal to free the remaining hostages.
Kamala Harris, the US vice-president, said “justice has been served” after Sinwar’s death was announced. She said “this moment gives us an opportunity to end the war in Gaza” and stressed the need to end suffering in Gaza.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has commended the Israeli military, the Shin Bet intelligence agency, and the security services for the killing of Sinwar. In a post to X, Herzog described Sinwar as the “mastermind” behind the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel and for being “responsible for heinous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians” for years. He added: “His evil endeavors were dedicated to terror, bloodshed, and destabilizing the Middle East.”
In a statement, the Israeli prime minister’s office said that no hostages were believed to have been present at the site of the killing in the Gaza Strip, where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “three terrorists were eliminated”. Some in the defence establishment had believed that Sinwar was likely to have surrounded himself with human shields as he sought to evade Israeli troops.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has recently spoken with his US counterpart, defence secretary Lloyd Austin, according to a US official. The call came moments after Katz announced Sinwar was dead, the official said. According to CNN, Austin was passed a note about Sinwar’s death during a Nato meeting in Brussels earlier today.
Israel’s Kan Radio reported that the Hamas leader was killed “by chance”, and not as a result of intelligence gathering. The station also said the bodies found at the site were found with large amounts of cash and fake IDs.
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