Israel's Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, has confirmed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who orchestrated the October 7 attack on Israel, has been killed according to preliminary DNA testing. The attack on October 7 led to the death of 1,200 Israeli civilians and is considered the largest terrorist attack on Israel to date, causing widespread tension across the Middle East.
Katz stated, "Yahya Sinwar, responsible for the October 7 attack, has been eliminated by Israeli forces today." The Israeli military also reported the elimination of three more terrorists during an operation in Gaza on the same day.
The rumors of Sinwar's death gained momentum on Thursday when a senior Israeli official mentioned that a person killed in the IDF's operation on Wednesday, believed to be Yahya Sinwar, was the mastermind behind the significant October 7 attack on Israel.
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Israeli soldiers targeted a building in Gaza on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of three individuals. Upon entering the building on Thursday, they discovered that one deceased person resembled Sinwar, sparking assumptions that Sinwar was dead.
Previous Reports of Sinwar's Death
Previously, there were reports that Israel was investigating the possibility of Sinwar's death in a rocket attack on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City. However, a senior Qatari diplomat informed the Jerusalem Post that reports of direct contact were false, as contact was made through Hamas senior leader Khalil al-Hayya.
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Who is Yahya Sinwar?
Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the attacks on Israel on October 7, became the Hamas leader in August this year following the assassination of Ismail Haniya in Iran. Born in 1962, Sinwar was among the early members of Hamas, which was founded in 1987.
Sinwar led Hamas's security branch, tasked with rooting out Israeli spies from the organization. He was arrested by Israel in the late 1980s and confessed to killing 12 suspected collaborators, earning him the nickname "The Butcher of Khan Younis." Ultimately, Sinwar was sentenced to four life terms for his crimes, including the murder of two Israeli personnel.
