Israel claims to have killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in Gaza
Israel's government and military both confirmed on Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in Gaza in a gunfight during an Israeli operation in Rafah.
Hamas has not yet commented on Israel's announcement.
In a video address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the killing of the Hamas leader was not the end of Israel's war on Gaza, and that its military would continue fighting until its captives were returned.
"Today evil has been dealt a blow but our task has still not been completed," Netanyahu said.
In his statement, he also framed the current conflict as a regional war. Israel recently invaded Lebanon and has been fighting against the Hezbollah movement while also conducting air strikes against the Houthi movement inside Yemen.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz earlier on Thursday sent a message to his counterparts around the world, confirming the killing.
"The elimination of Sinwar opens the possibility for the immediate release of the hostages and paves the way for a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza - without Hamas and without Iranian control," Katz said in his message.
US President Joe Biden issued a statement on Thursday saying that the killing of Sinwar presents the opportunity of a "day after" without Hamas in power in Gaza and accused the Hamas leader of being an "insurmountable obstacle" in front of that goal.
While Israeli officials have not framed the moment as the beginning of the end of the war, Biden appeared to link the killing to an end to Israel's war on Gaza.
"I will be speaking soon with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them, to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all, which has caused so much devastation to innocent people," Biden said.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gave a video address in which she said the killing was "justice served" for the "mastermind" of the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel. She added that Sinwar had American blood on his hands and that Hamas was now "decimated", a stated objective of Israel at the outset of the war.
"This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza," Harris said.
The US administration framed the killing in a unified manner, seeing it as a path to end the war and a "post-war Gaza without Hamas", with White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan calling it a "renewed opportunity that we would like to seize".
Ceasefire talks between Israel, Hamas and mediators Qatar, US and Egypt have been dead for months now, snagged on seemingly intractable issues like Israel's creation of the Netzarim Corridor and its insistence on maintaining control of the southern border between Gaza and Egypt.
'Most wanted'
Sinwar was Israel's most wanted man and is widely believed to be the architect of the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Sinwar took over as the Palestinian group's most senior leader, following the assassination in Tehran of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on 31 July.
The Israeli army said that during operations in Gaza on Wednesday, "three terrorists were eliminated", adding that the military and Shin Bet security service were "checking the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar".
"In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area. The forces that are operating in the area are continuing to operate with the required caution."
The operation reportedly took place in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israeli officials told Axios that the incident on Wednesday was "coincidental" and not based on any intelligence.
AFP reported that the Israeli army was conducting a DNA test on the body of a slain Palestinian to confirm whether it was Sinwar's.
The details of the killing of Sinwar run counter to Israel's claims that Sinwar had spent the year-long war on Gaza hiding in Hamas's elaborate tunnel system underground and that Sinwar was hiding among Israeli captives.
The Israeli army has been conducting a major ground offensive on northern Gaza since 5 October, besieging the area and carrying out attacks mainly around Jabalia refugee camp.
Sinwar, 62, hails from southern Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp. He is the founder of Hamas's internal security bodies and was jailed by Israel for 23 years over his alleged role in killing Palestinians suspected of collaborating with the Israeli army.
Israel said in August that it killed the head of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif, a claim denied by Hamas.
Last month, the Israeli army killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a Hamas ally, in an air strike on the Lebanese capital.
While Sinwar had been deemed the main target in Israel's war on Gaza, former Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said that Israel would continue to operate in Gaza "for years".
"The IDF will continue to operate in the Gaza Strip for years to come, and now the series of achievements and the elimination of Sinwar must be taken advantage of to bring about the return of the abductees and the replacement of Hamas' rule," Gantz said in a post on X.
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