Live Updates: Israel kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, vows to continue war in Gaza

More than a year after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the country’s military killed the man it believes was the main architect of that cross-border massacre – raising questions about the future of the war and the militant group itself.

Israel has killed several other senior Hamas commanders, including Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s political leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sinwar’s death was “the beginning of the day after Hamas” but “the task before us is not yet complete.”

So how did it happen? Israel had poured its resources into a fierce manhunt for Sinwar, declaring him the most wanted man in Gaza and a “dead man walking.” At one point, an Israeli military spokesman said the hunt “will not stop until he is captured, dead or alive.”

And U.S. officials believe the Israeli military came close a few times, once even obtaining a video that purportedly showed Sinwar with family members in a Gaza tunnel — but he kept slipping away. Previously, the Israeli military had surrounded Sinwar’s home and carried out an intensive attack on his hometown of Khan Younis, but was unable to find him.

According to two Israeli sources, the year-long search in Rafah came to an unexpected end when Israeli forces came under fire near a building during a routine operation.

The troops returned fire with a tank and then flew a drone into the building. A video shared by the military shows Sinwar’s apparent final moments: he sits alone in a chair, surrounded by dust and debris, and appears to look directly into the camera. He holds a piece of wood and throws it at the drone before the video ends.

Only then, when troops inspected the rubble, did they realize that Sinwar was among the bodies.

Dental records and other biometric data helped Israel identify the Hamas leader, according to a U.S. official and former official familiar with the matter.

Sinwar was trying to flee to the north when he was killed, the Israeli military said. He was found with a gun and more than $10,000 in Israeli shekels, they said.