Israel claims to have killed Hamas chief and perpetrator of 23 attack | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

JERUSALEM – Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a key architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Apparently troops had unwittingly stumbled upon him in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel’s most wanted man.

Just over a year after Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others in an attack that sent the country into turmoil, Israeli leaders celebrated his killing as a settlement of their scores. They also portrayed it as a turning point in the campaign to destroy Hamas, calling on the group to surrender and release about 100 hostages still in Gaza.

“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza. This is the beginning of the day after Hamas,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

U.S. officials expressed hope for a ceasefire without Sinwar. But its removal may not end the devastating war in which Israel has destroyed large swaths of the Gaza Strip and killed more than 42,000 Palestinians. Gaza’s health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of those killed were women and children.

Sinwar’s death is a major blow to Hamas, but the group, which receives support from Iran, has proven resilient in the face of losses suffered by its leaders in the past. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas about Sinwar’s death.

Netanyahu said Israel would continue fighting until all hostages were free and that it would maintain control of Gaza long enough to ensure that Hamas does not rearm – an effective occupation that raises the possibility of months or even years of sustained fighting.

Earlier this month, Israel opened a new front in the war with Hezbollah, stepping up its bombing of Lebanon and launching a ground offensive against the Iranian-backed militia after a year of cross-border firing.

In his speech on Sinwar’s death, Netanyahu said: “Our war is not over yet.”

President Joe Biden said Sinwar’s death paves the way for “a political solution that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.” Biden spoke to Netanyahu by phone to congratulate him on the mission and “discuss the path to bringing the hostages home to their families and ending this war once and for all.”

U.S. officials expressed measured optimism that the killing of a militant whom national security adviser Jake Sullivan called a “massive obstacle to peace” could breathe new life into ceasefire talks that have failed to achieve a breakthrough for months despite regular signs of progress.

Sullivan said Sinwar’s removal from the battlefield presents an opportunity to find a path forward that will bring the hostages home.

“Now we must work to ensure that his death actually delivers the long-term blow to Hamas that we would all like to see,” he said.

In a statement on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “Sinwar has repeatedly rejected in recent months the efforts of the United States and its partners to end this war through an agreement that would provide for the return of the hostages to their families.” the Palestinian people.”

Biden said he would send Blinken to Israel in the coming days.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Thursday that Israel’s killing of Hamas’ supreme leader “provides an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza.” She added that the war “must end in such a way that Israel is safe, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”

“It’s time for the day after to begin,” she said at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, just moments after the White House released President Joe Biden’s statement on Sinwar’s death.

KILL SINWAR

Sinwar has been the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip for years. He was appointed to the group’s top leadership position in July after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an apparent Israeli attack in the Iranian capital Tehran.

In recent months, Israel has eliminated a number of senior Hamas and Hezbollah figures through airstrikes. Israel has claimed to have killed the head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, but the group said he survived.

But in Sinwar’s case, the troops found him by accident.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had identified three Hamas militants running from building to building in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city. The troops attempted to shoot them before running into a building.

The Israeli military released drone video purporting to show Sinwar’s final moments: In a room destroyed by grenade attacks, a man sat in a chair, his face covered with a cloth, possibly to hide his identity. The video showed the man with an injured hand throwing a stick at the drone.

The military then fired another grenade at the building, causing it to collapse and killing Sinwar, Hagari said. He said Sinwar was found with a bulletproof vest, grenades and $10,707.

Parts of Sinwar’s DNA had previously been found in tunnels near where troops found the bodies of six hostages in late August, Hagari said. The military believes weeks of searches in the area led Sinwar to come out of hiding, he said.

Photos circulating online showed the body of a man resembling Sinwar with a gaping head wound, dressed in a military vest, half-buried in the rubble of a destroyed building. The security official confirmed that the photos were taken by Israeli security officials on site. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The military said three militants were killed in the operation. Police said one of them was confirmed to be Sinwar through dental records, fingerprints and DNA testing. Sinwar was in Israeli custody from the late 1980s until 2011, during which time he was treated for brain cancer – leaving Israeli authorities with extensive medical records.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant addressed Hamas militants, saying it was “time to go out, release the hostages, raise your hands and surrender.”

Netanyahu said Israel had “settled its score” with the man behind the Oct. 7 attack and that “evil had suffered a serious blow.” But he added: “The task before us is not yet complete.”

He said anyone in Hamas who gave up weapons and helped repatriate the hostages would be allowed to leave Gaza safely. About a third of prisoners still held in Gaza are believed to be dead.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening for the release of the hostages after news of Sinwar’s death broke. Some carried signs reading, “End Sinwar, end the war.”

Ifat Kalderon, whose cousin Ofer Kalderon is being held hostage in Gaza, said he was glad Sinwar was dead but was “scared about the 101 hostages. … They could murder her or do something about the murder of Sinwar.”

In the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, a Palestinian woman driven from her northern home said she hoped Sinwar’s death would end the Israeli campaign. “What other goals do you have? Enough. We want to go back,” said the woman, Umm Mohammed.

Some praised Sinwar as a symbol of resistance to Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank. Ahmed Hamdouna, who also fled his home in northern Gaza, said Hamas could replace him. “After the leader will come a thousand leaders. After the man there will come a thousand men,” he said.

For more than a week, Israeli forces have been carrying out a ground attack in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, saying they are battling Hamas militants who have regrouped there.

On Thursday, an Israeli attack hit a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabaliya, killing at least 28 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Fares Abu Hamza, head of the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency unit in the north, said a woman and four children were among the dead.

The Israeli military said it attacked a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command center at the school. She provided a list of around a dozen names of people she identified as militants who were present at the time of the attack call. It was not immediately possible to verify the names.

Israel has repeatedly attacked tent camps and schools housing displaced people in Gaza. The Israeli military says it carries out targeted attacks on militants and tries not to harm civilians, but its attacks often kill women and children.

Information for this article was contributed by Josef Federman, Melanie Lidman, Wafaa Shurafa, Jack Jeffery, Kareem Chehayeb, Josh Boak, Zeke Miller, Matthew Lee, Eric Tucker, Chris Megerian, Colleen Long, Steve Karnowski, Scott Bauer, Todd Richmond, and Joey Cappelletti from The Associated Press.

A protester holds a sign about the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a protest demanding a ceasefire agreement and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Smoke rises after an explosion in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, Thursday, October 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A photo of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is shown on a television screen at a hair salon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

FILE – Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, chairs a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions at his office in Gaza City on April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)

Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Smoke rises after the Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, seen from northern Israel, Thursday, October 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)