Key Points
- Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has reportedly been killed in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli military operation.
- Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz hailed Sinwar's death as a "victory for the entire free world".
- Sinwar was considered an architect of the October 7 attack on Israel that led to Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — — has been killed by Israeli forces in the Palestinian enclave, Israel said on Thursday.
His killing marks a huge success for Israel and a pivotal event in the year-long conflict. Western leaders said his death offered an opportunity for the war to end, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would go on.
The Israeli military (IDF) said it had killed Sinwar in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, with Israeli media reporting the raid was a routine raid that caught Sinwar by chance.
"After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated," the IDF said.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas, but sources in the militant group said that indications from Gaza suggested Sinwar had been killed in an Israeli operation in the area of Tal El Sultan, in the Gaza Strip's south.
Netanyahu, speaking in Jerusalem just after the death was confirmed, said Sinwar's death offered the chance of peace in the Middle East, but warned that the war in Gaza was not over and Israel would continue until its hostages were returned.
"We will continue with all our strength until the return home of all your loved ones, who are our loved ones. This is our highest commitment. This is my highest commitment."
Families of hostages, Gazans respond to Sinwar's death
In Gaza, , residents said they believed the war would continue, but they clung to their hope of self-determination.
In Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a displaced Palestinian named Thabet Amour told Reuters that the Palestinian fight would continue.
"This is resistance that does not disappear when men disappear," he said. "The assassination of Sinwar will not lead to the end of the resistance or to a compromise or surrender and raising the white flag."
The killing raises new questions about the fate of the hostages still in Hamas' captivity.
Sinwar was involved in negotiations that could have led to their release.
In Israel, families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza said they hoped for a ceasefire now to bring home the captives but also feared their loved ones were in greater danger.
Families of Israeli hostages said that while the killing of Sinwar was a significant achievement, it would not be complete
Avi Marciano, the father of Noa Marciano, who was killed in captivity by Hamas, told Israeli broadcaster KAN that "the monster, the one who took her from me, who had the blood of all our daughters on his hands, finally met the gates of hell."
"A little justice, but no comfort," he said. "There will be comfort only when Naama, Liri, Agam, Daniela and Karina, our girls' friends, return home."
US, France congratulate Netanyahu
US President Biden, who spoke to Netanyahu by phone to congratulate him, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, said Sinwar's death provided a chance for the more than year-long conflict in Gaza to finally end and for Israeli hostages to be brought home.
The US wants to kickstart talks on a proposal to achieve a ceasefire and secure the release of hostages, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, calling Sinwar the "chief obstacle" to ending the war.
"That obstacle has obviously been removed. Can’t predict that that means whoever replaces (Sinwar) will agree to a ceasefire, but it does remove what has been in recent months the chief obstacle to getting one," he said. In recent weeks, Sinwar had refused to negotiate at all, Miller said.
the death of Sinwar could be "a vital turning point" as he renewed calls for the return of hostages, humanitarian support and a ceasefire.
Sinwar, who was named as Hamas' overall leader following the in Tehran in July, was believed to have been hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.
Despite Western hopes of a ceasefire, his death could dial up hostilities in the Middle East where the prospect of an even wider conflict has grown.
Israel has and is now planning a response to a, a key backer and ally of Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Dozens of protesters gathered near the Israeli embassy in Jordan’s capital Amman to express their solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza following reports of the Hamas leader's death.
Demonstrators chanted slogans supporting Hamas and waved flags of Jordan and Palestine. Protester Abdel Rahim Sorour affirmed Hamas's resilience, stating "Hamas will stay strong with or without Sinwar."
