MIAMI, United States. – Israel confirmed this Thursday the death of Yahya Sinwar, top leader of Hamas and mainly responsible for the attacks of October 7, 2023, which left more than 1,200 dead and about 250 kidnapped.
The official Israeli Army radio reported that Sinwar had been eliminated in a military operation in the Gaza Strip. Israeli media claim that the death occurred during clashes in the city of Rafah, in the south of the Strip.
The Israeli Army had reported hours before that during an operation in Gaza it had killed three terrorists, but did not specify whether one of them was Sinwar until confirming his identity.
Sinwar, born in the Khan Younis refugee camp, was elected leader of Hamas in Gaza in 2017, and was considered one of the main promoters of the group’s hardest line. Israel identified him as the mastermind of the massive attacks in October, making him the country’s number one target.
Sinwar’s assassination follows a long list of Israeli operations against Hamas leaders. From the group’s founder, Ahmed Yasin, killed in 2004, to his successor Abdelaziz Rantisi, Israel has eliminated several key figures from the Islamist group.
From Brussels, the secretary general of the NATOMark Rutte, referred to Sinwar’s death, according to the EFE report: “Personally, I won’t miss it.” Rutte called Sinwar the “architect” of the October 2023 terrorist attacks and stated that “all allies have condemned those attacks.”
