Israel Killed Yahya Sinwar: Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has confirmed that Israel Defense Forces killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar on Thursday (October 17). Israel was searching for Yahya Sinwar for the last one year. The IDF said in a statement that soldiers had killed three Hamas terrorists in an attack.
However, it was later confirmed that Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was also included among these three terrorists. Sinwar was at the top of Israel’s most wanted list since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war and his killing has dealt a major blow to the terrorist group. His death was not immediately confirmed by Hamas.
Israel conducted DNA test of Yahya Sinwar
The army confirmed Sinwar’s death on Wednesday after conducting a DNA test on the body of one of the three militants killed during the operation in Gaza, AP reported. Foreign Minister Israel Katz described Sinwar’s killing as “a military and moral achievement for the Israeli army.” He said this would “create the possibility of immediately releasing the hostages.”
Who was Yahya Sinwar?
Sinwar was the mastermind of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel had vowed to kill him from the beginning of its counter-operation in Gaza. According to local health officials, about 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attack, most of whom were local civilians. This sparked conflict, in which more than 42,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza.
He was the top leader of Hamas inside the Gaza Strip for years. Israel imprisoned Sinwar from the late 1980s to 2011, during which he was treated for brain cancer, and because of this, Israeli authorities also had his DNA samples. Sinwar was elected Hamas’s top leader in July after Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.
Sinwar was born in Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza in 1962. After this he became a member of Hamas and soon became its chief. When Israel arrested him in 1980, he killed 12 people, after which he became known as the Butcher of Khan Younis.
Also read: Israel Hamas War: Hamas Chief Yahya Sinwar killed, Israel’s claim confirmed by DNA
