Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed by Israeli troops in Gaza – in a seismic special forces raid that could spell the “beginning of the end” of their devastating war.
Sinwar, the architect of the October 7, 2023 massacre, was among three militants killed during an operation in the southern city of Rafah on Wednesday, unnamed Israeli officials told local broadcasters.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has shared confronting footage of its enemy’s last moments, showing Sinwar missing a limb inside a heavily damaged building.
US President Joe Biden said the news marked a “good day … for the world”, as officials contemplate life in Gaza free from Hamas’ “brutal grip”.
World leaders are hopeful the slaying of Sinwar could prove a turning point in the armed conflict in Gaza, which has raged for more than 12 months. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Sinwar’s killing was “not the end of the war in Gaza, it’s the beginning of the end”.
The IDF had been attempting to kill Sinwar for months after discovering the suburb, but not the exact location, where he was hiding out. Hamas’ Gaza Strip leader since 2017, Sinwar was the driving force behind the October terror attack that killed 1200 mostly Israelis.
Since then Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. Sinwar was made chairman of Hamas’ political bureau in August – making him the de factor leader of the organisation – after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran’s capital of Tehran.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said Sinwar’s death “significantly” weakens Hamas.
Ex-CIA director David Petraeus went as far to say that the elimination of Sinwar was “bigger than” the move to kill Osama bin Laden by US special forces in 2011, he told the BBC. Officials from the Iran – an ally of Hamas – have released an ominous statement, saying Sinwar’s demise would strengthen the “spirit of resistance”.
How was Sinwar killed?
Extraordinary drone footage of a wounded Sinwar inside a ruinous building has been released by Israeli military authorities. In the clip, the keffiyeh-wearing Hamas leader can be seen sitting on an arm chair covered in dust and debris and appears to be missing part of his right arm.
He throws a stick at the drone before the footage cuts out.
Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, the IDF’s international spokesman, said the video showed “Yahya Sinwar’s last moments”.
There are reports Sinwar, 62, had been hiding among some of the remaining hostages, using them as a human shield. However, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has said there were no hostages in the area when the three were killed.
The IDF and the Israel Security Agency said operations recently in southern Gaza had further restricted Sinwar’s movements that had “led to his elimination”.
It’s been reported that Israeli soldiers confronted three armed men who were then killed in gunfire. A graphic image showing the body of Sinwar partially buried underneath rubble began circulating online.
The slain terrorist can be seen “wearing a vest carrying grenades,” as well as a wristwatch that is commonly used by Hamas fighters, according to Israeli media.
Israeli police have announced Sinwar’s body has been brought to a forensic facility in Tel Aviv for further testing. Saudi and Israeli media, citing unnamed sources, claim preliminary DNA and dental tests showed Sinwar was indeed one of the men. Sinwar spent years in an Israeli jail so the country will have his DNA on file.
Sinwar hid in a dark den
Mr Netanyahu said Sinwar’s death marked “the beginning of the day after Hamas,” and that the lives of militants holding hostages would be spared if they were freed. But he added the war was not over yet.
“This is an opportunity for you, the residents of Gaza, to finally break free from its tyranny,” he said on Thursday, local time.
“Sinwar ruined your life. He told you he was a lion, but in reality he was hiding in a dark den. And he was killed when he fled in a panic from our soldiers.”
Mr Netanyahu said that “today, evil has suffered a heavy blow, but the task before us is not yet complete”.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken described Sinwar as a “vicious and unrepentant terrorist” who had rebuffed efforts by world leaders to bring the war with Israel to a close. “His decision to launch the October 7th terror attacks unleashed catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza, who have now endured the horrors of more than a year of war,” he said.
“The world is a better place with him gone.”
Mr Blinken said the US would now “redouble its efforts” to free remaining Israeli hostages and Gazan civilians from the “brutal grip of Hamas”. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for President, said “justice has been served” and an opportunity now existed to “finally end the war in Gaza”.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged the warring parties to seize the opportunity to release hostages and “put an end to military operations”.
This was echoed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who called for a ceasefire to be “immediately proclaimed”.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would “not mourn” the Hamas leader’s demise. Iran’s mission to the United Nations said the incident would lead to the strengthening of “resistance” in the region.
“He will become a model for the youth and children who will carry forward his path toward the liberation of Palestine,” the mission said in a post on X. “As long as occupation and aggression exist, resistance will endure, for the martyr remains alive and a source of inspiration.”
Hamas is over: Gazans react
As news of Sinwar’s death spread across Palestinian territories, many were left in disbelief according to AFP.
“The assassination of Yahya Sinwar is a tragedy for the people of Gaza, we did not expect it,” said Amal al-Hanawi, 28, from Nuseirat in the centre of the Gaza Strip.
“I have the impression that Hamas is over, that there is no longer a powerful resistance; it has fallen apart,” she told AFP, saying that this is “exactly what Netanyahu wants”.
With Sinwar’s death, many were left wondering if the end of the war may finally be in sight. “There is no longer any excuse for Netanyahu to continue this war of extermination,” Moumen Abou Wassam, 22, said.
Ahmed Omar, 36, said Sinwar would be “remembered as a leader who died on the battlefield”.
A good day for Israel
US President Joe Biden said Sinwar’s death was “a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world”.
“Hamas, Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israelis, Palestinians, Americans. He was the mastermind of the October 7th massacres, rapes, and kidnappings.
“It was on his orders that Hamas terrorists invaded Israel to intentionally – and with unspeakable savagery – kill and massacre civilians, a Holocaust survivor, children in front of their parents, and parents in front of their children.”
Mr Biden likened Sinwar’s death to the US’ killing of Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for September 11, in 2011. He added that the US had provided intelligence to help Israel find Sinwar.
“There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
Sinwar, Mr Biden said, was an “insurmountable obstacle,” to peace. Sinwar’s death is Israel’s biggest scalp since the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah – and could possibly eclipse even that.
Israel has said that Sinwar’s leadership of Hamas complicated any ceasefire. But his death may further inflame tensions in the Middle East at boiling point.
Iran, which backs Hamas and Hezbollah, said its early October attack on Israel was due to the death of Nasrallah. It’s not know how Tehran, already waiting for Israeli retaliation, would react to the killing of Sinwar.
Devastating blow
In ceasefire negotiations, one of the terms being looked into by mediators was the safe passage of Sinwar out of Hamas. Israel had said it could not tolerate him as remaining in charge of even a hobbled Hamas. But it’s believed it preferred him dead to letting him flee.
Talking to the UK’s Sky News, Professor Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics and Political Science said it would be a “devastating blow” if Sinwar were confirmed dead, “for the military wing of Hamas and then on the effectiveness of Hamas as an organisation”.
But Hamas would survive, he said.
“Hamas has already morphed into a guerrilla force and it has already been planning for a long war of attrition … so even though Israel has degraded its military capabilities, it will go on to fight another day.”
Analysts believe Sinwar’s death could facilitate the resumption of negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release between Hamas and Israel. Both sides have blamed each other for the failure to end the fighting, free hostages and allow vital humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar: Israel’s most wanted man
Elliot Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, said Sinwar’s death could be a “game changer” for the conflict.
“I think it’s more likely that a deal can now be done. The pressure on the Israelis to do a deal would also grow,” he said.
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