How Israel killed enemy number one Yahya Sinwar

For over a year, Israeli forces searched for the leader of Hamas, who vanished in Gaza shortly after orchestrating the attacks on October 7th.

Yahya Sinwar, 61, reportedly spent a significant amount of time concealed in the network of tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip, accompanied by a group of bodyguards and a "human shield" consisting of hostages taken from Israel.

In the end, it seems he lost his life during an unexpected encounter with an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza. He had only a few guards with him, and no hostages were discovered.

Information is still coming in, but here's what we currently know about Sinwar's death.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, a group from the 828th Bislamach Brigade was carrying out patrols in the Tal al-Sultan region of Rafah on Wednesday.

Israeli forces identified and engaged three militants, all of whom were neutralized.

At that point, there was nothing unusually outstanding about the gun battle, and the soldiers didn't come back to the area until Thursday morning.

At that moment, while the bodies were being examined, one of them was discovered to look remarkably like the Hamas leader.

The body, however, stayed in place because of concerns about possible booby traps. Instead, a piece of a finger was taken and sent to Israel for analysis.

His body was eventually retrieved and transported to Israel later that same day after the area was secured.

Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for the IDF, mentioned that their troops were unaware of his presence but carried on with their operations.

He mentioned that his soldiers had spotted the three individuals darting from one house to another and confronted them before they could separate.

The individual, now recognized as Sinwar, "charged into one of the structures on his own" and was ultimately killed after being spotted by a drone.

It was thought that none of the hostages Sinwar was allegedly using as a human shield were there, and the small number of people around him indicates that he may have been attempting to go unnoticed or that he had lost many of his bodyguards.

Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, stated, "Sinwar met his end in a state of desperation, hunted and battered – he wasn't taken down as a leader, but as a self-serving individual. This serves as a strong warning to all those who oppose us."

On Thursday evening, the Israeli military released drone footage that reportedly captures the last moments of Sinwar before his death.

The footage seems to be captured by a drone as it navigates through the open window of a largely ruined structure.

It draws near to a man with his head concealed, who is perched in an armchair on the upper level of a home filled with scattered rubbish.

The man, who looks to be hurt, then throws what looks like a stick at the drone, and the video concludes.

On Thursday afternoon local time, Israel initially stated that it was looking into the potential death of Sinwar in Gaza.

Just minutes after the news broke, social media was flooded with images of a man resembling the Hamas leader, who had sustained severe head injuries. The graphic nature of these pictures prevents us from sharing them again.

Nonetheless, authorities cautioned that "at this point" they were unable to verify the identities of any of the three men who lost their lives.

Shortly after, Israeli officials informed the BBC that they were becoming "more certain" that he had been killed. However, they emphasized that all required tests needed to be conducted before confirming his death.

The tests were quick to finish. By Thursday evening, Israel declared that they were done and confirmed that Sinwar had been "eliminated."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that "evil" has suffered a setback, but cautioned that the conflict in Gaza is not yet over.

Although Sinwar wasn't eliminated in a specific operation, the IDF mentioned that it had been active in regions where they had information suggesting he was located for several weeks.

In summary, Israeli troops had pinpointed Sinwar's approximate whereabouts to the southern city of Rafah and were gradually advancing to capture him.

Sinwar had been evading capture for over a year. He must have sensed the increasing pressure from Israel, especially as other senior Hamas figures like Mohammad Dief and Ismail Haniyeh were eliminated, and as Israel dismantled the facilities he relied on to carry out the attacks on October 7.

The IDF announced that its recent activities in the south have limited Yahya Sinwar's ability to move and ultimately resulted in his removal, as he was being targeted by their forces.

Eliminating Sinwar was a significant objective for Israel, and they identified him as a target shortly after the attacks on October 7. However, his death does not bring an end to the conflict in Gaza.

Although Netanyahu claimed he had "settled the score," he stressed that the conflict would persist, especially in order to rescue the 101 hostages who are still in Hamas' custody.

To the families of those held captive, I want to express that this is a crucial time in the conflict. We are committed to pushing forward with all our strength until every one of your loved ones, and ours, is safely back home.

In Israel, the families of those held captive expressed their hope that a ceasefire could be established to facilitate the return of their loved ones.