How Israel killed its arch-enemy Yahya Sinwar

Israeli forces have been hunting the Hamas leader for more than a year, and he disappeared in Gaza shortly after he planned the Oct. 7 attack.

Yahya Sinwar, 61, is said to have spent much of his time holed up in a tunnel under the Las Vegas Strip, surrounded by a group of bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages taken from Israel.

But in the end, he appeared to have been killed during a chance encounter with an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza. His security staff was minimal. No hostages were found.

Details are still emerging, but here’s what we know so far about Sinwar’s killing.

The Israel Defense Forces said a unit of its 828th Bisramah Brigade was patrolling the Tal Sultan area in the Rafah region on Wednesday.

Israeli forces found and attacked three militants, but all were eliminated.

At that stage there appeared to be nothing particularly noteworthy about the firefight, with soldiers not returning to the scene until Thursday morning.

It was then that when the dead were examined, it was discovered that one of the bodies bore a striking resemblance to a Hamas leader.

However, due to a suspected booby trap, the body remained in place and part of one finger was removed and sent to Israel for testing.

Later that day, with the area secured, his body was finally extracted and flown back to Israel.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said his troops “did not know he was there, but we continued the operation”.

He said his troops had identified the three men who were running from house to house and engaged them before they dispersed.

The man, identified as Sinwar, “ran into a building alone” and was killed after being located by a drone.

None of the hostages Sinwar is believed to be using as human shields are present, and his small entourage suggests he is either trying to move unnoticed or has lost many of those protecting him.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said: “Sinwar died being beaten, persecuted and fleeing – he died not as a commander, but as a man who only cared about himself. This This is a clear message to all our enemies.”

On Thursday afternoon local time, Israel first announced that it was “investigating the possibility that Sinwar was killed in Gaza.”

Within minutes of the announcement, photos posted on social media showed the body of a man closely resembling the Hamas leader, suffering catastrophic head trauma. The images are too graphic to be republished.

However, officials warned that the identities of the three victims could not be confirmed “at this stage”.

Soon after, Israeli sources told the BBC that leaders were “increasingly confident” they had killed him. However, they said all necessary tests must be carried out before a death can be confirmed.

These tests didn’t take long. By Thursday evening, Israel announced that those tests had been completed and Sinwar was confirmed to have been “eliminated.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “evil” had been “hit” but warned Israel’s war in Gaza was not over yet.

While Sinwar was not killed in a targeted operation, the IDF said it had been operating for weeks in areas where intelligence suggested Sinwar might be located.

In short, Israeli forces have narrowed Sinwar’s approximate location to the southern city of Rafah and are slowly advancing to capture him.

Sinwar has been on the run for more than a year. There is no doubt that he felt Israel’s influence as other Hamas leaders such as Mohammed Deef and Ismail Haniyeh were killed and Israel destroyed the infrastructure he used to prosecute the atrocities of October 7. The pressure is mounting.

The IDF said in a statement that operations in the south in recent weeks had “limited Yahya Sinwar’s combat operations as he was pursued by troops and led to his elimination”.

Sinwar’s death, a major Israeli war target, marked his death shortly after the Oct. 7 attack. But his death did not end the Gaza war.

While Mr Netanyahu said he had “settled the score” with him, he insisted the war would continue – especially to rescue the 101 hostages still held by Hamas.

“I say to the dear families of the hostages: This is an important moment in the war. We will continue to do our best until all your relatives, our relatives, come home.”

In Israel, families of the hostages say they hope a ceasefire can be reached now and the hostages can be brought home.