Yahya Sinwar is dead. What we know about death of Hamas leader behind Oct. 7 attacks

Yahya Sinwar, the elusive leader of Hamas regarded as the mastermind behind the militant group’s brutal attack on Israel last year, is dead.

Israel said Thursday it killed Sinwar during a military operation in Gaza.

Hamas has yet to comment, and it was not immediately clear what impact Sinwar’s death will have on the Israel-Hamas war.

Here’s what we know:

What’s the latest on the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar?
Israel’s Defense Forces announced it had killed three Hamas militants during a military operation in Gaza on Thursday and was investigating whether one of them was Sinwar.

A U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Israel was conducting DNA tests on the victim’s body to determine if it was Sinwar.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz later confirmed Sinwar’s death.

“This is a significant and moral achievement for Israel and a victory for the entire free world against the axis of evil of radical Islam led by Iran,” Katz said in a statement.

A second U.S. official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it appears Sinwar may have been killed in a mortar attack.

Katz said Sinwar’s death “opens the possibility” for the immediate release of the remaining hostages taken during Hamas’ attack on Israel last year and “paves the way for a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza.”

Who is Yahya Sinwar?

Sinwar was the leader of Hamas, which staged a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. He was considered one of the architects of the attack, which touched off a bloody war between Israel and Hamas that, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, has resulted in the deaths of more than 42,000 Palestinians.

Sinwar, 61, had been in charge of daily operations in Gaza before the Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. He was declared Hamas’ political leader after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in July by a bomb hidden in his guesthouse in Tehran.

Dubbed “The Face of Evil” by Israel, Sinwar was known for operating in secrecy, moving constantly and using trusted messengers for non-digital communication, three Hamas officials and one regional official told Reuters. He had not been seen in public since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and was believed to be hiding in the network of tunnels that Hamas used to conceal weapons, fighters and hostages