Jerusalem:
Israeli ministers have been informed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was very likely killed by Israeli forces operating in southern Gaza, two officials familiar with the situation said. did.
Israeli broadcasters cited unnamed officials as saying that Sinwar, the mastermind behind the devastating attack on Israel last October that sparked the Gaza war, has been killed.
There was no immediate confirmation from the military, which said earlier that Shinwar, Israel’s most wanted enemy, may have been among the three operatives killed during the operation in the Gaza Strip. He said he was investigating the gender.
“At this stage, we cannot confirm the identity of the terrorist,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said there was no evidence that there were any Israeli hostages in the building where the three operatives were killed.
Hamas had no immediate comment. Al-Majid, a Hamas-related website that usually posts about security issues, urged Palestinians to wait for information about Shinwar from the group itself, rather than from Israeli news outlets, and said that claimed that the aim was to crush the spirit of the Palestinian people.
Israeli media reported that the operation was a routine raid that captured Sinwar by chance.
If his death is confirmed, it would be a major boost for the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following a series of high-profile assassinations of prominent enemy leaders in recent months.
Families of the 101 Israeli and foreign hostages still held in Gaza welcomed the news about Shinwar, but reiterated their calls for an agreement to bring the hostages home.
“We call on the Israeli government, world leaders and intermediaries to pursue an immediate agreement for the release of all 101 hostages and to leverage military gains into diplomacy,” the group said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted a message on social media platform X with a Bible quote.
“’You will pursue your enemies, but they will fall before you by the sword.’ – Leviticus 26 Our enemies cannot hide.
The post includes photos of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in Beirut last month, and former Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who was killed in August, and a third There was a blank space for a photo. All three were canceled in red.
Continuous questions
Mr. Shinwar, Israel’s chief architect of the Gaza War, said that on October 7, 2023, Hamas-led armed groups attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages to Gaza. Since then, he has been at the top of Israel’s most wanted list.
Israeli counter-attacks have killed more than 42,000 people, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, and displaced most of the population. But Shinwar has so far eluded detection and may have been hiding in a dense zone of tunnels that Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.
His death is the biggest blow to Hamas in more than a year of war, and for the remaining forces in Gaza, the assassination of former political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who had little to do with the day-to-day running of the government. The consequences would be more serious. of conflict.
Shinwar, a former leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, was appointed overall leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the assassination of former political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
It remains unclear who will replace Mr. Sinwar, an absolute enemy of Israel with a reputation as a ruthless enforcer within the organization. None of his potential successors is in the same position.
Mr. Sinwar, the group’s ringleader and political and strategic leader, had unparalleled influence within Hamas, and his death has sparked renewed efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement to end the fighting. There is a possibility that a path will be opened.
Israel has destroyed Hamas as an organized military force, and estimates it has killed more than 18,000 Hamas fighters. However, fierce fighting continues with a small group of fighters operating in the rubble of Gaza.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
