ELBAHRAINI.NET Israel says its forces in Gaza have killed Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas leader who
is claimed to be the main architect of the October 7, 2023 attacks and the country’s most wanted man.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the Hamas leader was killed by Israeli forces on Thursday (17/10),
describing it as “a significant military and moral achievement for Israel”.
“Sinwar’s death opens the possibility for the immediate release of the hostages and
paves the way for changes that will lead to a new reality in Gaza – without Hamas and without Iranian control.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has released a statement saying Sinwar was killed
by its forces in an operation in southern Gaza after a “year-long pursuit”.
“Yahya Sinwar was killed after hiding for the past year behind Gaza’s civilian population,
both above and below ground in Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar greets people during an event marking the 35th
anniversary of the founding of Hamas in Gaza on December 14, 2022
They include Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, the Izzedine
al-Qassam Brigades, who the IDF said was killed in an airstrike in Gaza last July.
Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR),
said last year that he believed Deif was the mastermind behind the planning of the October
7 attack because it was a military operation, but Sinwar was “most likely part of the
group that planned and influenced it”.
Hamas also accuses Israel of assassinating its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last July. Sinwar was named his successor the following month.
Who was Yahya Sinwar
Yahya Sinwar attended a demonstration demanding that Israel stop attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank in 2022.
They include Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades,
who the IDF said was killed in an airstrike in Gaza last July.
Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
said last year that he believed Deif was the mastermind behind the planning of the October
7 attack because it was a military operation, but Sinwar was “most likely part of the group that
planned and influenced it”.
Hamas also accuses Israel of assassinating its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last July. Sinwar was named his successor the following month.
Who is Yahya Sinwar?
Sinwar has been the group’s leader in the Gaza Strip since 2017. Since August, he has been the leader of its political wing.
At the Doha meeting, many scenarios were discussed, but in the end only two names were put
forward by Hamas leaders: Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Hassan Darwish, the leader of the
General Shura Council – the body that elects Hamas’s Politburo.
The council voted unanimously to select Sinwar. A Hamas official told the BBC that Sinwar’s appointment was “a message of defiance against Israel”.
