Yahya Sinwar: Israel claims ‘victory for the free world’ after Hamas leader killed by IDF soldiers in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by IDF forces in Gaza is only another part of the ongoing war against Hamas.

“We have finished our accounts with him, but the mission ahead of us has not been completed,” Mr Netanyahu said in a press conference hours after confirmation of the high-ranking leader’s death.

Mr Netanyahu was speaking at a televised press conference after the Israeli military confirmed it had killed Sinwar and said “evil has suffered a heavy blow”, but they warned that the “task before us is not yet complete”.

He described Sinwar’s death as the “beginning of the end”, and said Israel would continue to work until the end of the war.

“We have demonstrated today that all those who try to harm us, this is what happens to them. And how the forces of good can always beat the forces of evil and darkness. The war is still ongoing, and it’s costly.

“To the people of Israel, there are a lot of challenges still facing us and we have to remain resilient and stand firm on our ground and to continue to fight.

“We will not stop the war. We will go into Rafah.” Mr Netanyahu added.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz called the killing a “victory for the entire free world”.

There has been no official comment from Hamas but sources in the group said the indications suggested that Sinwar had been killed during an Israeli operation in the area of Tal El Sultan, in the Gaza Strip’s south.

“Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF soldiers,” Katz said in a written statement from his office.

“This is a great military and moral achievement for Israel and a victory for the entire free world against the axis of evil of radical Islam led by Iran.”

“Sinwar’s elimination opens the door for the immediate release of the hostages and paves the way for the end of Hamas’ rule and a new reality in Gaza.

“Israel now expects the backing and support of the free world to advance these critical objectives together.”

His death represents a major boost to the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a string of high-profile assassinations of prominent leaders of its enemies in recent months.

Earlier Israeli police examined dental and DNA evidence to determine if Sinwar, Israel’s top target, had been killed.

The military said earlier it was checking the possibility that Sinwar was among three militants killed during an operation in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Majd, a Hamas-linked website that usually publishes about security issues, urged Palestinians to wait for information about Sinwar from the group itself and not Israeli media outlets, which it said aimed to break their spirit.

US President Joe Biden was also quick to announce the Hamas leaders’ death in a statement on social media.

Mr Biden confirmed that DNA tests had indeed confirmed that Sinwar had been killed and that his death was “a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.”

Israeli media reported that the operation was a routine raid that caught Sinwar by chance.

The military said there were no signs that Israeli hostages had been present in the building.

An Israeli security official earlier said it appeared that the man was killed in a battle, not in a planned targeted air strike.

Israel’s Army Radio previously said the incident had occurred during a ground operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during which Israeli troops killed three militants and took their bodies.

Israel had samples of Sinwar’s DNA to test against from his period in an Israeli jail.

Sinwar has been at the top of Israel’s wanted list since the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.

But he had eluded detection, possibly hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under the Gaza Strip over the past two decades.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted a message on social media platform X with a biblical quotation.

“’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.”

Previously leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Sinwar was named as its overall leader following the assassination of former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 killing about 1200 people and taking more than 250 hostages into the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s campaign in response has killed more than 42,000 people, turned much of Gaza into rubble and displaced most of its population.

The killing of Sinwar by Israeli forces dealt a fatal blow to Hamas, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday, adding that a page must now be turned to work towards peace in Gaza and the wider region.

“It’s a fatal blow that has been struck on Hamas, a terrorist group, which was guilty of an anti-Semitic massacre and many attacks, terrorist attacks,” Barrot told LCI television, adding diplomacy alone would enable Israel to have security in the long-term.

“It’s a page that is turning, it’s a page that has to be turned for the war in Gaza, and a page that must turn for the region in its path to peace.”

AP and Reuters