Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war, has been killed by Israeli forces in the Palestinian enclave, Israel said on Thursday.
His killing marks a huge success for Israel and a pivotal event in the year-long conflict. There are a number of possible scenarios for what happens next but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war would go on.
The Israeli military said it had killed Sinwar in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
“After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated,” it said.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas, but sources in the militant group said that indications from Gaza suggested Sinwar had been killed in an Israeli operation.
Read also: Who is Yahya Sinwar, Hamas new leader
In Israel, families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza said they hoped that a ceasefire could now be reached that would bring home the captives.
In Gaza, pounded relentlessly by Israeli forces for a year, residents said they believed the war would continue but they still clung to their hope of self-determination.
Netanyahu, speaking in Jerusalem just after the death was confirmed, said Sinwar’s death offered the chance of peace in the Middle East but warned that the war in Gaza was not over and Israel would continue until its hostages were returned.
“Today we have settled the score. Today evil has been dealt a blow but our task has still not been completed,” Netanyahu said in a recorded video statement. “To the dear hostage families, I say: this is an important moment in the war. We will continue full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said: “This is a great military and moral achievement for Israel.”
He called Sinwar a “mass murderer who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7” – the Hamas-led attack on Israel that unleashed the assault on Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Sinwar’s death marked a moment of relief for Israelis while providing the opportunity for a “day after” in Gaza without the militant group in power. He said he would speak soon with Netanyahu to discuss bringing home Israeli hostages in Gaza and “ending this war once and for all.”
Kamala Harris, his vice president and Democratic nominee in the U.S. presidential election, told reporters: “Justice has been served.”
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