Getty ImagesIsraeli soldiers had been hunting the leader of Hamas for more than a decade. He disappeared in Gaza shortly after masterminding 7 October attacks. Yahya Sinwar was said to have spent most of his time in the tunnels beneath the Strip with a group of bodyguards as well as a “human barrier” of hostages taken from Israel. But it appears that he met his demise in a chance meeting with an Israeli patrol on the southern Gaza Strip. His guard detail was not large. The Israel Defense Forces said a unit of its 828th Brigade Bislamach was patrolling Tal al-Sultan in Rafah on Wednesday. Israel Defense Forces says a unit from its 828th Bislamach Brigade was patrolling Tal al-Sultan, an area of Rafah, on Wednesday. The corpse remained on the site because of suspected booby-traps. Instead, a part of a finger from the corpse was removed and sent to Israel to be tested. Daniel Hagari, IDF spokesman, stated that his forces “didn’t know he had been there, but we continued to work”. He said that his troops had engaged the three men who were running from house-to-house, before they split up. The man identified as Sinwar then “ran alone into one building”. He was killed by a tank shell after being located by a helicopter. His body was found with a flak vest, a gun, and 40,000 shekels. This is a message to our enemies. The drone footage, released by Israel late on Thursday, was said to show Sinwar’s final moments before his death. It appears to have been shot from a flying drone, which is seen through an open window of the building. The video approaches a man sitting in a chair on the first-floor of a house littered with debris, with his head covering. The video ends when the man, who appears to be injured, throws a stick towards the drone. Sinwar is ‘eliminated.’ Israel first announced that it was “investigating” the possibility that Sinwar was killed in Gaza, on Thursday afternoon local. Pictures posted on social media within minutes of the announcement showed the body of an individual with facial features very similar to that of the Hamas leader who had suffered severe head injuries. The images are too graphic for republishing. However, officials warned that “at this point” the identity of one of the three men who were killed could not be verified. Not long after, Israeli sources told BBC leaders they were “increasingly certain” they had killed him. They said that all tests had to be completed before the death of Sinwar could be confirmed. These tests were quick. By Thursday evening, Israel had announced they had been completed and that Sinwar was confirmed “eliminated”.Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said “evil” had been “dealt a blow”, but warned the Israeli war in Gaza had not been completed.GettyA tightening nooseWhile Sinwar was not killed during a targeted operation, the IDF said that it had for weeks been operating in areas where intelligence indicated his presence.In short, Israeli forces had narrowed Sinwar’s rough location to the southern city of Rafah, and were slowly moving in to get him. Sinwar was on the run from Israeli forces for more than a full year. He felt the Israeli pressure increasing as other Hamas figures, such as Mohammad Dief, and Ismail Haniyeh were killed and Israel destroyed the infrastructure that he used to carry out the atrocities on 7 October. In a recent statement, the IDF stated that its operations in the south in the past weeks had “restricted Yahya’s operational movements as he was being pursued by forces and led him to his elimination”. Israel’s major goal, but it is not the end. Israel had set a deadline for the death of Sinwar shortly after the 7th October attacks. Sinwar’s death does not mean the end of the Gaza war. Basem Naim of Hamas’s political bureau said that Israel seems to believe that killing our leaders will end our movement and the Palestinian struggle, but that Hamas itself cannot be eliminated. Naim did not confirm Sinwar’s death or name him, but said that “it is very difficult and distressing to loose beloved people”. “To the hostage families I say: This is an important time in the war. We will continue to fight until all of your loved ones and our loved ones are home. Families of hostages in Israel expressed hope that a ceasefire would be reached soon to bring the captives home.Getty ImagesIsrael Gaza warIsraelHamas
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