Yahya Sinwar,the brand new chief of Hamas within the Gaza Strip, attends the opening of a brand new mosque in Rafah city within the southern Gaza Strip on February 24, 2017. Israeli International Minister Israel Katz on October 17 introduced the killing of Sinwar, who Israel has accused of masterminding the group’s assault on October 7 final 12 months. (AFP)
JERUSALEM – The Israeli navy on Thursday introduced the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar by its forces in southern Gaza the day past.
The Israeli navy “confirms that after a year-long pursuit, yesterday (Wednesday), October 16, 2024, IDF (navy) troopers from the Southern Command eradicated Yahya Sinwar, the chief of the Hamas terrorist organisation, in an operation within the southern Gaza Strip,” it stated in a press release.
“The handfuls of operations carried out by the IDF and the ISA (Shin Wager inner safety company) during the last 12 months, and in current weeks within the space the place he was eradicated, restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational motion as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination,” the navy added.
“IDF troopers of the 828th Brigade (Bislach) working within the space recognized and eradicated three terrorists. After finishing the method of figuring out the physique, it may be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eradicated”.
Israel accuses Sinwar, 61, of being the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 assault on Israel that triggered the continued warfare, together with Hamas’s navy chief Mohammed Deif.
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The Israeli navy has stated Deif was killed in a strike earlier this 12 months although the Palestinian group has not confirmed it.
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Sinwar in August changed Hamas’s former chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran on July 31. Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s loss of life.
The Hamas assault final 12 months resulted within the deaths of 1,206 individuals on Israeli soil, most of them civilians, in line with an AFP tally based mostly on official Israeli figures that embrace hostages killed in captivity.
Israel’s retaliatory navy offensive in Gaza has killed 42,438 individuals, a majority of them civilians, in line with the Hamas-run territory’s well being ministry. The UN acknowledges the figures to be dependable.