The head of the Palestinian organization Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, was killed in Gaza. The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil Hayya, announced Sinwar’s passing on television. Sinwar, according to Hayya, was a “brave and intrepid” leader who devoted his life to the struggle for Palestinian freedom. Sinwar, a 62-year-old resident of Rafah in southern Gaza, died after a violent battle with Israeli forces.
In his Thursday account of the firefight, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari reported that soldiers apprehended Sinwar after he escaped into a building. Israeli troops identified him using a drone and confirmed his identity through dental exams and DNA testing. Before his death, Sinwar carried a weapon and possessed forty thousand shekels.
Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit was freed together with more than a thousand Palestinians, including Sinwar, in 2011 as part of a prisoner swap. He spent a significant portion of his life incarcerated; he was born into a Khan Younis refugee camp. He succeeded Ismail Haniyeh as leader of Hamas following the August assassination of the group’s long-standing political commander in Tehran. Israel believed Sinwar was the one who was behind the attack on southern Israel. On October 7, further inflaming the already intense conflict between Israeli and Hamas forces.
Khalil Hayya emphasized that Hamas will continue its fight despite the deaths of Sinwar and other leaders. Both the Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah factions vowed to further their involvement in the fight against Israel after Sinwar’s death. Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the assassination as a triumph but warned Israel would continue its military operations until goals were met. As Yahya Sinwar was killed in Gaza, international leaders are waiting for word of a truce and the release of captives.
