Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, has been killed, Israel has confirmed after it conducted biometric testing.
In contrast to Israel’s notable intelligence successes of the past several weeks, Sinwar appears to have met his demise entirely by chance. He was killed, alongside two other Hamas terrorists on Wednesday, though Israelis did not realize it was Sinwar until a day later.
He was killed in Rafah above ground, and no hostages were found nearby, despite the widespread belief he was hiding underground in Hamas’s elaborate network of tunnels underneath Gaza surrounded by hostages.
Eliminated: Yahya Sinwar.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF)
October 17, 2024 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sinwar “a mass murderer who killed thousands of Israelis and kidnapped hundreds of our citizens,” and he said, “evil took a heavy blow,” but noted “the mission ahead of us is still unfinished. He called Sinwar’s death “an important milestone in the sunset of Hamas’s rule in Gaza.”
Sinwar was considered to be the mastermind behind Hamas's mass terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the current conflicts across the region. Members of Hamas murdered roughly 1,200 people, hundreds of whom were attending an outdoor music festival at the time of the attack, and they kidnapped roughly 250 other people.
"This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "With our intelligence help, the IDF relentlessly pursued Hamas’s leaders, flushing them out of their hiding places and forcing them onto the run. There has rarely been a military campaign like this, with Hamas leaders living and moving through hundreds of miles of tunnels, organized in multiple stories underground, determined to protect themselves with no care for the civilians suffering above ground. Today, however, proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes."
Israeli officials had vowed to kill or capture Sinwar and other Hamas leaders who planned and carried out the attack.
“Justice has been served and the United States, Israel and the entire world are better off as a result,” Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday. “He had American blood on his hands.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Minister Yoav Gallant, about Sinwar’s killing. Austin “also expressed strong support for the immediate release of all remaining hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza,” a readout from Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said.
Sinwar was believed to be one of the last remaining living Hamas leaders responsible for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack. It’s unclear who will succeed him as the leader of the group both in Gaza and abroad; such has been Israel’s success in targeting senior leadership. Among the surviving Hamas leaders living outside Gaza, the most likely candidate could be Khaled Mashal, a founder of Hamas and former chairman of its political bureau.
His death could finally pave the way for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a deal that would see the remaining hostages freed from Gaza and end the war. On the other hand, the lack of clear leadership could make negotiations harder.
There are roughly 100 hostages believed to still be held by Hamas, about a third of whom are presumed dead.
Sinwar’s final location of Rafah is particularly notable. The Biden administration and several other foreign governments had urged Israel not to conduct ground operations in southern Gaza, Rafah in particular, due to the influx of displaced Palestinian civilians in the area. Six of the Israeli hostages were murdered and their bodies were found in Rafah in late August. Disagreements between the Biden administration and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over Rafah contributed to a fraying of relations between the two normally staunch allies.
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Israeli forces have wiped out several Hamas leaders over the war and more recently turned their primary focus to Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based U.S.-designated terrorist group that has also carried out continuous attacks on Israel’s northern front. Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in airstrikes over the last several weeks. Hamas and Hezbollah are both proxies for Iran, the true malevolent power in the Middle East.
“Iran and its proxies should take note that in a matter of weeks, Israel has decapitated the senior leadership of Hezbollah and Hamas. The world is a safer place because Israel has proven what strong action against global terrorism should look like,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said. “Every time the Biden-Harris administration attempts to place conditions on Israel’s self-defense, they are weakening Israeli and American responses to terrorism. The only way that this war will end is with Israel’s victory and the defeat of Iran’s terrorist proxies. Israel’s removal of the architect of this war represents another key step toward eliminating these threats.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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