Tarz Press: The Palestinian group Hamas has confirmed that its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed in a clash with Israeli forces. Yesterday, Israel announced that it had killed three terrorists in a targeted operation in Gaza and mentioned that one of them could likely be Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas.
Hamas Leader Accidentally Killed
New details about the death of Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, suggest that he was accidentally killed during a clash with Israeli forces. Israel confirmed that they had no prior knowledge of Sinwar’s whereabouts. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesperson, told the media that Israeli forces were unaware of Sinwar’s presence in the area and were simply conducting their routine operations.
Al Arabiya explained the incident as follows: Around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, a soldier from Israel’s 410th Brigade noticed a suspicious person moving in and out of a house in Tel al-Sultan. Ground forces were dispatched to investigate. By 3 p.m. that day, three suspicious individuals were seen entering and exiting two houses in the area. It was suspected that these individuals were Sinwar’s associates, attempting to clear the way for him. At this point, Israeli forces opened fire, and Sinwar and his group took shelter in two separate buildings. Ultimately, they were killed by Israeli forces.
The BBC also reported: At the time, nothing about the encounter caught the attention of the soldiers. In fact, the soldiers did not return to the scene of the clash until Thursday. Only then did they inspect the bodies and realize that one of them bore a striking resemblance to Yahya Sinwar. Due to suspicions of explosive traps, they did not move the bodies immediately. Instead, they cut off a piece of a finger from the person who resembled Yahya Sinwar and sent it to Israel for identification. Later on Thursday, after securing the area, his body was also transferred to Israel.
Reactions
The news of the Hamas leader’s death sparked global reactions. U.S. President Joe Biden said that with his death, the world will find peace. Speaking in Berlin today, Biden referred to Sinwar’s death and stressed that the time has come to end the war in Gaza.
The British government, in response to Sinwar’s death, expressed that now there may be an opportunity to move towards lasting peace in the Middle East, hinting that the death of Hamas’s political leader removes a significant threat.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the killing of Yahya Sinwar was a significant achievement, but he added that the war in Gaza is far from over.
