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The Israeli military has confirmed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the 7 October attack on Israel last year, has been killed during an operation in southern Gaza.
In a statement, the spokesperson said the leader was killed by a southern command military operation in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday night. Verification of his body had been ongoing since then.
The death of Yahya Sinwar represents a major boost to the Israeli military and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a string of high-profile assassinations of prominent leaders of the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah in recent months.
Israel’s Army Radio said the incident occurred during a ground operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during which Israeli troops killed three militants and took their bodies.
Sinwar was the chief architect of last October’s attack on Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 people and led to 251 more being taken hostage, and triggered the war inside Gaza. More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed since.
Sinwar had thus far eluded detection, possibly hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.
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US president Joe Biden spoke to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the confirmation of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s death on Thursday, a US official said.
Biden and Netanyahu agreed that Sinwar’s death has created an opportunity to push for the release of hostages in Gaza and that they would work together to achieve that goal, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
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Nato chief Mark Rutte addressed the reported killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Thursday, telling reporters, “If he has died, I personally will not miss him.”
Rutte spoke at a Brussels news conference a few minutes before Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz confirmed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been killed.
UK defence secretary John Healey expressed a similar sentiment a few hours ago.
Israel president commends killing of Sinwar
Israeli president Isaac Herzog has issued a statement regarding the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
You can read it below.
Netanyahu says Israel’s fight goes on despite killing of Hamas leader
We have more from Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech.
“We have finished our accounts with him,” he said. “But the mission ahead of us has not been completed.
“We will continue until all the hostages are brought home. This is our commitment. It is a supreme commitment.
“[Yahya] Sinwar destroyed all your lives. He was hiding in a little dark cave and he was killed running away from our soldiers.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to thwart the actors of evil in this area.
“We have to continue fighting courageously fighting. We will win.”
Netanyahu calls on Gazans to ‘free themselves from tyranny’ of Hamas
Israeli prime minister has called on Gazans to seize the opportunity to be ‘freed from the tyranny’ of Hamas.
“Hamas will no longer Gaza,” he said, speaking to mark the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. “This is the day after that now.”
Addressing Gazans, he said: “It is your opportunity to be freed from his tyranny. I am telling you now, all your leaders will be eliminated.”
Source: independent.co.uk
