{"id":99618,"date":"2024-10-18T05:03:07","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T05:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/10\/18\/yahya-sinwar-leader-of-hamas-killed-by-israeli-forces\/"},"modified":"2024-10-18T05:03:07","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T05:03:07","slug":"yahya-sinwar-leader-of-hamas-killed-by-israeli-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/yahya-sinwar-leader-of-hamas-killed-by-israeli-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas, killed by Israeli forces"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, has been killed by Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza, Israel has confirmed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sinwar had led the armed group in Gaza since 2017 and was described by Israel, the US and UK as the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks \u2013 when Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel\u2019s prime minister, said the killing of the Hamas chief marked not the end but the \u201cbeginning of the end\u201d of the year-long war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military said Sinwar was among three militants killed on Wednesday in Rafah in the south of the territory.<\/p>\n

It added that there were no signs of hostages at the site. It has previously been claimed that Sinwar would travel with Israeli hostages as a means of protection.<\/p>\n

Three gunmen were sighted by Israeli soldiers running from house to house, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said. Once fired upon, they split up and Sinwar entered a building alone.<\/p>\n

He was spotted sitting in a chair by a drone \u2013 which he threw a piece of wood at, Hagari added. Soldiers entered the building and found Sinwar with a vest, a gun and 40,000 shekels (\u00a38,240), he said.<\/p>\n

Lt Col Hertzi Halevi, chief of the IDF, said: \u201cWe said we would get to him and we did get to him. The world is now better off without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confirmation of his death was delayed by several hours, as Israel compared dental records and fingerprints. Israel will have had his genetic data on file from the decades he spent in an Israeli prison.<\/p>\n

Earlier, graphic images circulating online appeared to show a dead body resembling Sinwar lying in rubble with a severe head injury.<\/p>\n

The IDF said at the time it was possible he had been killed \u2013 but did not want to prematurely confirm the death of a man it had been pursuing for over a year.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu hailed the killing of Sinwar, saying: \u201cWhile this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it\u2019s the beginning of the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the conflict could end \u201ctomorrow\u201d if Hamas lays down its arms and returns the remaining hostages held in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Earlier, addressing the families of the hostages, Netanyahu said Israel would \u201ccontinue with all our might until we bring every one of your loved ones home, as they are our loved ones too\u201d.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu told Gazans that Sinwar \u201cdestroyed your lives\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHamas will no longer control Gaza,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the beginning of the day after Hamas, and it is an opportunity for you, the residents of Gaza, to finally free yourselves from its tyranny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinwar\u2019s killing comes after Hamas\u2019s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in July. Sinwar was subsequently named as Hamas\u2019s overall leader, assuming Haniyeh\u2019s role as well.<\/p>\n

Sinwar \u2013\u00a0who was widely known as Abu Ibrahim\u00a0\u2013 was born in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in 1962. He was first arrested by Israel aged 19 for \u201cIslamic activities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Aged 25, in the late 1980s, he founded the Hamas security service al-Majd, which punished those accused of so-called morality offences and those suspected of collaborating with Israel.<\/p>\n

In 1988, he was sentenced to four life terms in prison in Israel \u2013 but was among the 1,027 prisoners released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas in Gaza for over five years, in 2011.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s foreign minister, Israel Katz, said Sinwar\u2019s killing was a \u201csignificant military and moral achievement\u201d.<\/p>\n

Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, said Sinwar \u201cjoins a long series of eliminations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSinwar died while beaten, persecuted and on the run \u2013 he didn\u2019t die as a commander, but as someone who only cared for himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a clear message to all of our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamas has yet to comment on Sinwar\u2019s killing, and there is no indication of who will take his place.<\/p>\n

Iran backs Hamas with funding, weapons and training. The country\u2019s mission to the UN posted on X that the killing of Sinwar would lead to the strengthening of \u201cthe spirit of resistance\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will become a model for the youth and children who will carry forward his path toward the liberation of Palestine,\u201d the mission said.<\/p>\n

US President Joe Biden congratulated Netanyahu in a phone call with the Israeli leader, saying it was \u201ca good day for Israel, for the United States and for the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added that the death of Sinwar proved \u201conce again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice\u201d.<\/p>\n

Former CIA director David Petraeus told BBC Radio 4 that Sinwar\u2019s death was \u201cbigger\u201d than Osama Bin Laden\u2019s in 2012 \u2013 \u201cboth hugely symbolic\u2026 but also hugely operational\u201d as Sinwar was the overall leader of Hamas.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s stated aim for entering Gaza in the wake of the 7 October attack was to destroy Hamas.<\/p>\n

Sir John Sawers, who headed up the UK\u2019s foreign intelligence service MI6 from 2009 to 2014, said Netanyahu would now want to \u201cpress home\u201d his advantage.<\/p>\n

He told BBC Radio 4\u2019s World Tonight programme: \u201cNetanyahu at the moment feels he has a real advantage over not just Hamas but Hezbollah and Iran itself is on the back foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think his instinct will be to press home that advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir John said he suspected the Israeli PM would seek to achieve most of the country\u2019s military goals before the next US president is inaugurated in January.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The post Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas, killed by Israeli forces<\/a> first appeared on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The post Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas, killed by Israeli forces<\/a> appeared first on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, has been killed by Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza, Israel has confirmed. Sinwar had led the armed group in Gaza since 2017 and was described by Israel, the US and UK as the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks \u2013 when Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people in Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99618\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}