Yahya Sinwar was killed in a shootout by Israeli forces after being captured in southern Gaza

Jerusalem: On Thursday, the Israeli military revealed how Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas, was traced “going from home to home” in southern Gaza in a desperate attempt to evade discovery. He was later killed in a gunfight.

The 61-year-old Sinwar’s death has been heralded by Israel as one of the worst setbacks Hamas has suffered since the organization launched its onslaught on October 7, 2023, which ignited the Gaza War.

The Israel Defense Forces “confirms that after a year-long pursuit, yesterday (Wednesday), October 16, 2024, IDF (military) soldiers from the Southern Command eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organisation, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip,” according to a statement.

“The dozens of operations carried out by the IDF and the ISA (Shin Bet internal security agency) over the last year and in recent weeks in the area where he was eliminated restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational movement as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination,” it said.

Three terrorists were found and killed by IDF troops from the 828th Brigade (Bislach), who were stationed in the region. It seems evident that Yahya Sinwar was removed after the body’s identification procedure was finished.”

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a military spokesperson, confirmed later that Sinwar was killed after being seen in the Rafah sector of the territory with two other fighters.

Hagari said during a briefing, “The forces identified three terrorists who were going from home to home on the run.”

After being fired at, the party scattered, and Sinwar was forced to escape by the troops.

“Sinwar ran away alone into one of the buildings, and our forces scanned the area with a drone—which you can see in this film—Yahya Sinwar injured his hand in the shooting, who can be seen here covered with his face; he threw a branch at the drone,” Hagari added.

Sinwar does not hold Captives

The military published drone video of Sinwar alone in a blown-up flat, his head wrapped in a traditional scarf, one hand badly damaged. In his last minutes, he was seen tossing a stick at the approaching drone.

“We fired into the building after identifying him as a terrorist inside and entered to conduct a search of the area. He had 40,000 shekels and a rifle when we discovered him. “Our forces killed him while he was running,” said Hagari.

“Near the terrorists we eliminated were no hostages and our forces are now screening the area,” he said.

Israel accused Mohammed Deif, the military leader of Hamas, and Sinwar of planning the October 7 strikes.

Although the Palestinian organization has not verified it, the Israeli military said Deif was killed in an attack earlier this year.

Ismail Haniyeh, the previous leader of Hamas, was murdered in Iran on July 31 and was succeeded by Sinwar in August. On Haniyeh’s passing, Israel has remained silent.

1,206 individuals died on Israeli land as a consequence of the Hamas onslaught last year; the majority of them were civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data that also included hostages who were slain in custody.

The health ministry of the Hamas-run territory reports that 42,438 individuals have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory military attack in Gaza; the majority of them were civilians. The UN accepts the statistics as accurate.