Israeli troops have been tracking the Hamas leader for more than a year after he disappeared in Gaza shortly after launching attacks on October 7 last year.
Yahya Sinwar, 61, is said to be hiding in tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip along with bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages captured in Israel.
But in the end he appears to have died in a chance encounter with an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza. His bodyguard team is small. No hostages have been found.
Details are still emerging, but here's what we know so far about Sinwar's murder.
regular patrol
On Wednesday (10/16), a unit of the 828th Bislamach Brigade patrolled Tal al-Sultan, part of Rafah, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
Three militants were identified and attacked by Israeli troops, all killed.
At the time nothing specific was known about the collision and soldiers did not return to the scene until Thursday morning (10/17).
Then, when they examined the bodies, they discovered that one of the dead looked like the Hamas leader.
However, the body remained in place due to suspected booby traps: instead of being transported, part of a finger was removed and sent to Israel for analysis.
His body was eventually exhumed and flown to Israel that same day, when the area was deemed safe.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said his forces “didn't know it was there, but continued to operate.”
According to him, the soldiers identified the three men who were running from house to house and confronted them before they dispersed.
The man, identified as Sinwar, “escaped alone towards one of the buildings” and died after being located with the help of a drone.
None of the hostages Sinwar would have used as human shields are there, and his small entourage says he is trying to stay out of sight or has lost many of his protectors.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “Shinwar died while being attacked, chased and fleeing; He did not die as a commander, but as someone who only cared about himself. This is a clear message to all our enemies.”
Drone footage released by the Israeli military on Thursday night purportedly shows Sinwar's final moments before he was killed.
The video appears to have been captured by a drone flying through an open window of a nearly damaged building.
He approaches a man with his head covered, sitting in a chair on the first floor of a house full of rubble.
The video ends with the apparently injured man throwing what appears to be a stick at the drone.
Sinwar 'delete'
Israel first announced Thursday afternoon that it was investigating the possibility that Sinwar was killed in Gaza.
Minutes after the announcement, photographs posted on social media showed the body of a man with features similar to the Hamas leader, suffering catastrophic head injuries. The images are too strong to repost.
However, officials cautioned that the identities of the three dead could not be confirmed “at this time.”
Shortly afterwards, Israeli sources told the BBC that authorities were “increasingly certain” they had killed him. But they said all necessary tests should be carried out before confirming death.
These tests do not take much time. On Thursday night, Israel announced they were done and it was confirmed that Sinwar had been “eliminated.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “evil” had been dealt a “hard blow” but warned that Israel's war in Gaza was far from over.
Open or search
Although Sinwar was not killed during the operation, the IDF said it had been operating for weeks in areas where intelligence services indicated its presence.
Before long, Israeli forces narrowed Chinwar's approximate location to the southern city of Rafah and slowly advanced to find it.
Sinwar was on the run for more than a year. He was undoubtedly aware of growing Israeli pressure following the assassination of other Hamas leaders, such as Mohammed Taif and Ismail Haniyeh, and Israel's destruction of the infrastructure used to carry out the atrocities on October 7 of the year. past.
In a statement, the IDF said its operations in the south in recent weeks “restricted the operational movement of Yahya Sinwar, who was pursued by its forces, and led to his dismissal.”
Important but not the ultimate goal
Killing Sinwar has been one of Israel's main objectives since the October 7 attacks last year. But his death did not end the war in Gaza.
Although Netanyahu said he had “resolved the assessment,” he insisted the war would continue to save 101 more hostages held by Hamas.
“To the respected families of the hostages I say: this is a crucial moment in the war. “We will continue at full strength until your loved ones, our loved ones, return home.”
In Israel, some families have said they now hope a ceasefire agreement will be reached to return the hostages to their homes.
