Yahya Sinwar: Israeli military 'checking possibility' it may have killed leader of Hamas

The Israeli military has said it is "checking the possibility" it has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who has led Hamas within Gaza since 2017 after more than three decades in its ranks

The Israeli military is "checking the possibility" it has killed Hamas' top leader, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza.

In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Securities Authority (ISA) said: "During IDF operations in Gaza, three terrorists were eliminated. The IDF and ISA are checking the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar. At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed.

"In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of hostages in the area. The forces that are operating in the area are continuing to operate with required caution."

It comes as graphic photographs have made the rounds on social media, with people claiming they show the body of Sinwarc, 62. The Hamas leader was the mastermind behind the October 7 attacks that saw Hamas fighters infiltrating Israel's borders, killing over 1,000 people, taking hostages and sparking a devastating year-long battle against Hamas in Gaza.

If Sinwar is confirmed to be among the dead, it will mean Israel has taken out their main target in the brutal and bloody war. The IDF and Shin Bet have said the incident took place on Wednesday night in the southern Gaza Strip during a routine patrol by the IDF. Soldiers reportedly came across three armed men, exchanging fire with them before killing them.

Sinwar was chosen as the group's top leader following the assassination of Ismael Haniyeh in July in an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital, Tehran. He was widely believed to be hiding in Hamas tunnels running throughout the Gaza Strip where he never stayed in one place for too long and avoided communicating via technology, instead relying on messengers.

Chilling footage emerged earlier this month which claims to show the Hamas leader carrying a bag of dynamite through a narrow tunnel in a desperate bid to stop Israel from killing him. Moments after the clip, Sinwar allegedly surrounded himself with 20 hostages in what is now the last known sighting of the leader.

In a year of retribution for the cross-border terror attack by Hamas, relentless Israel bombing of Gaza has resulted in the deaths of more than 40,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel's military said it has hit more than 40,000 targets, found 4,700 tunnel shafts and destroyed 1,000 rocket launcher sites during its year-long bombardment of the Strip.

Sinwar is unrepentant about the October 7 attacks, people in contact with him have said, despite unleashing an Israeli invasion that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, laid waste to his homeland and rained destruction on ally Hezbollah. The list of Hamas leaders killed in the months since includes Mohammed Deif, the head of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, who was killed in an airstrike on Gaza.

Saleh al-Arouri, a founding commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, was assassinated in an explosion in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, which is a stronghold for Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and part of Iran's 'Axis of Resistance'. Then in July, the leader of Hamas's political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, was blown up, most likely by Israel, while visiting Tehran to attend the inauguration of the Iranian president. Sinwar was appointed as the leader of Hamas after Haniyeh's assassination.

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