Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the terrorist mastermind of the October 7 attack on Israel last year, has been eliminated by Israeli forces.Two other Hamas terrorists were killed by IDF in the firefight. Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed Sinwar was shot dead in a firefight in Rafah Wednesday and confirmed his death Thursday after locating his body, according to the Times of Israel. IDF was not targeting Sinwar directly, though it was gradually constricting the areas in which the leader led his operations, and hence did not know it was the leader until the scene was inspected the following morning. The terror chief’s identity was confirmed by his teeth and ongoing DNA testing. One of his fingers was removed and sent for testing, as the location was booby-trapped, local media reported. The body was extracted later on Thursday and transported to Israel. "The war...is not over," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.He added any Hamas fighters who release their hostages unharmed will be given free passage. Those that murder hostages will be hunted down and killed.In a statement, the IDF says Sinwar planned and executed the 7 October attack and was "responsible for the murder and abduction of many Israelis"."Yahya Sinwar was eliminated after hiding for the past year behind the civilian population of Gaza, both above and below ground in Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip," it says.The Daily Mail reported David H. Petraeus, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said the killing of Sinwar was 'bigger' than the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.Speaking to the PM programme on Radio 4 he said: 'It is hard to overstate how important this is. This is bigger than Osama Bin Laden, who was massively symbolic but not that operational."'This is both hugely symbolic, he was after all the complete leader of Hamas... but also hugely operational.' Israel's President Isaac Herzog took to X to commend Israeli forces for killing the Hamas leader, saying Sinwar was "responsible for heinous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians, citizens of other countries, and the murder of thousands of innocent people"."His evil endeavours were dedicated to terror, bloodshed, and destabilizing the Middle East.""Now, more than ever, we must act in every way possible to bring back the 101 hostages who are still being held in horrific conditions by Hamas terrorists in Gaza."Sinwar only became Hamas leader after the killing of its former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in July.Numerous other Hamas and Hezbollah leadership members have been eliminated by Israel since Oct 7, 2023.
