The IDF and ISA confirmed on Thursday that after a year-long pursuit, on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, IDF soldiers from the Southern Command eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip.
"Yahya Sinwar planned and executed the October 7th Massacre, promoted his murderous ideology both before and during the war, and was responsible for the murder and abduction of many Israelis," the IDF stated.
According the IDF: "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. The dozens of operations carried out by the IDF and the ISA over the last year, and in recent weeks in the area where he was eliminated, restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational movement as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination.
In recent weeks, IDF and ISA forces, under the command of the Southern Command, have been operating in the southern Gaza Strip, following IDF and ISA intelligence that indicated the suspected locations of senior members of Hamas. IDF soldiers of the 828th Brigade (Bislach) operating in the area identified and eliminated three terrorists.
"After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated," the IDF added
The Hamas leader was eliminated after a tank fired at a building in Rafah which was thought to contain terrorists.
After that, infantry from the 450th Battalion raided and searched the building. During the searches, the forces found Sinwar's body.
In the building where he was eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area. On the terrorists' bodies, the forces found cash and false ID cards.
It was reported that the confrontation with Sinwar was by chance.
The fact that he was not in the building with hostages negates the intelligence community which assumed he and the other Hamas officials had surrounded themselves with a human shield of hostages. It is believed that the hostages that surrounded the Hamas leader were those who were murdered in September.
Forces from the Bislah Brigade were those who suspected that there were terrorists in the building and a tank from the tank commanders' course fired on it.
Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant hinted at the elimination in a post on X in which he quoted the verse from Leviticus: "'You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.' We will reach every terrorist and we will eliminate him." Along side the post, Gallant added a picture with an empty space between Mohammad Deif and Hassan Nasrallah.