Israel announced that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, has been eliminated.
The Israel Defense Forces stated that soldiers from the Southern Command eliminated Hamas terrorist organization leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza.
Sinwar’s death was confirmed after Israeli forces identified DNA from his body during an operation in which they killed three Hamas members in southern Gaza on Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Gaza residents now have a chance to escape Hamas’s tyranny. He added that while the war is not yet over, Israel will continue fighting until all Israeli hostages are safely returned.
Sinwar was the mastermind behind Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7 last year and had been Israel’s number one target for elimination. He rose to the position of head of the political bureau of Hamas after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last July.
With Israel successfully eliminating two top Hamas leaders, experts predict that this will significantly impact the operational capabilities of the Hamas organization. Hamas has yet to release an official statement regarding Sinwar’s death.
Following Sinwar’s death, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement expressing his intention to speak with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them. He expressed that with Hamas removed, there is an opportunity to offer a political solution for a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
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