Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Sinwar was Gaza’s leader and has likely been a target from the start of the war last year.

IDF had been investigating whether Sinwar was among the Palestinian militants killed in a skirmish at an unspecified location since Thursday. But now it seems confirmed.

Sinwar, 62, has been the political leader of Hamas in Gaza since early 2017. He assumed full leadership of the group in August after Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, according to a report by RT. 

“Eliminated: Yahya Sinwar,” the IDF posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday evening. Israel declared war on Hamas last year after some 1,100 people were killed and roughly 250 kidnapped in the south of the country during the October 7 surprise attack. Heavy artillery and air strikes, as well as Israeli ground operations, have caused widespread destruction in Gaza in the year since. Some 42,000 people, primarily women and children, have been killed in the Palestinian enclave, according to local health authorities.

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Israel has not backed off its goal to completely destroy Hamas and wipe the group from the face of the Earth.

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Alongside Mohammed Deif, chief of the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas), Sinwar has been widely regarded as the mastermind of the October 7th, 2023 attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing conflict. Israel claims to have killed Deif in an airstrike earlier this year, although the group has denied his death. –RT

This news comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly signed off on a list of targets that could be struck in response to Tehran’s missile strikes earlier this month. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has threatened to deliver a “deadly, pinpoint accurate, and surprising” response to Iran, while Israeli officials have called for devastating strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, including nuclear facilities.

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These attacks will be retaliation for an October 1st strike on Israel.