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Israeli Military Investigates Possible Death of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza
The Israeli army and the Shin Bet security service stated on Wednesday that they are investigating the possibility of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, but it cannot be confirmed at this stage.
A joint statement mentioned that "during operations conducted by Israeli army troops in the Gaza Strip, three terrorists were killed. The Israeli army and Shin Bet are investigating the possibility that one of the terrorists is Yahya Sinwar. At this stage, it cannot be confirmed who the terrorists are."
A military source told Israeli broadcasting that confirming the report of the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar will take hours. Israeli Channel 14 reported that the body, which the Israeli army suspects belongs to Sinwar, was found in Tal al-Sultan in Rafah.
Last December, multiple reports surfaced indicating that Sinwar had been killed, injured, or had fled outside Gaza, while other estimates suggested that his communication with Hamas members had been cut off. However, according to the Times of Israel, it later became clear that he had been hiding, and Israel was behind those reports as part of a "psychological war" aimed at pushing Hamas fighters to surrender.
Israel has previously assassinated prominent Hamas leaders, including the commander of the movement's military wing, Mohammed Deif, and the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade, Raef Salameh, in an airstrike on Gaza last July, as well as the deputy head of the movement's political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, in an airstrike in Beirut last January.
