Gaza: Israeli forces eliminated Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in Gaza’s Rafah on Wednesday. Sinwar was the alleged mastermind of the October 7 massacre in Israel that triggered the ongoing war. The Israeli troops reportedly encountered him unknowingly during a battle, only to later identify his body in the rubble as that of Israel’s most wanted man.
Israeli leaders hailed his death as retribution, just over a year after Hamas militants launched a shocking assault from Gaza into southern Israel. They also framed it as a pivotal moment, urging Hamas to surrender and release the approximately 100 hostages still in its custody.
Here’s a look at how Yahya Sinwar was killed
On Wednesday morning, an Israeli soldier from Battalion 450 spotted a suspicious person inside a building and opened fire on him. Later, in the day, the fighters observed three persons trying to move stealthily between houses in Gaza. They were quickly identified as terrorists.
Two of them had their faces covered with blankets and were moving ahead of a third person, trying to clear the path for him. Troops engaged them with gunfire, injuring the terrorists, who began to scatter. Two took refuge in one building while the third one, later identified as Sinwar entered another.
Troops opened fire from a tank, providing light gunfire support as well. Sinwar was alone in his building and moved to the second floor. The troops launched a shell and then rolled two grenades into the area. They also deployed drones to assist in the operation.
One drone captured a glimpse of a masked figure with a wounded arm sitting inside a room. Realising a drone was approaching, the terrorist grabbed a piece of wood and threw it at the drone. The fighters responded by firing a shell at that location.
On Thursday morning, troops entered the room and uncovered the body’s face, revealing him to be the Hamas chief and the most wanted man by Israel.
Video captures last moments of Yahya Sinwar
Following the announcement that Sinwar has been killed, Israeli forces released a video corroborating the part of the operation in which the Hamas chief was cornered and wounded after intense firing from Israeli forces in Gaza’s Rafah. As his accomplices scrambled away to take cover in buildings, a drone captured Sinwar sitting on a couch in a damaged building with a wounded arm and his face covered. The video shows him looking at the drone for a few seconds before throwing a wood log at it. These were Sinwar’s last moments before his death.
