Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israel Defense Forces in southern Gaza earlier today. Sinwar was designated a terrorist by the U.S. State Department in September 2015, and became the de facto leader of Hamas following the death of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, on July 31.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant responded to deaths of Sinwar and two other terrorists, citing Leviticus 26:7. He asserted the enemies of Israel will be killed, stating in a post on X:
“You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.” – Leviticus 26
Our enemies cannot hide. We will pursue and eliminate them.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari noted earlier that three terrorists were killed by IDF forces in Gaza. He later explained that the IDF and intelligence agency Shin Bet have confirmed one of the corpses is Sinwar. Said Hagari in a post on X:
The IDF spokesperson and the Shin Bet spokeswomen confirm that at the end of a manhunt that took about a year, last night (Wednesday), October 16, 2024, IDF forces from the Southern Command killed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization active in the southern Gaza Strip. Sinwar planned and executed the murderous attack on October 7, and promoted his murderous ideology during and before the war, and is responsible for the murder and kidnapping of many Israelis.
Sinwar was eliminated after a year in which he hid in the heart of the civilian population in Gaza, and in underground hiding in the Hamas tunnels. Dozens of actions carried out by the IDF and the Shin Bet in the last year, and in the last few weeks in the area where he was killed, reduced the area of activity of Yahya Sinwar, who was pursued by the forces, and led to his death.
In recent weeks, IDF and Shin Bet forces under the leadership of the Southern Command, including Division 162 and the Gaza Division, have been operating in the south of the Gaza Strip, based on intelligence from the Shin Bet and Amman, which pointed to suspicious areas where senior Hamas officials are suspected of being. A force of the 828th Brigade (Bisalh), which operated in the area, identified and eliminated three terrorists. After completing the process of identifying the body, it can now be confirmed that he was eliminated
Representative Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) responded to news of Sinwar’s death by sharing an image comparing the terrorist leader to Adolf Hitler. Torres is notable for being only one of 22 House Democrats who voted to censure Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) after she posted a video with the phrase “from the river to the sea,” calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.
