Israel ‘is probing whether it has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza airstrike’, say reports: IDF ‘cannot confirm or deny’ taking out October 7 attack mastermind
- Unconfirmed reports suggest Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar may be dead
- Israeli media reported that he was killed in an IDF airstrike
- Local media also reported that Israeli intelligence is divided over whether he is dead.
According to unconfirmed reports, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The claims, first reported by Israel’s Kan broadcaster, suggest the terror group’s leader was killed by an Israeli army airstrike in Gaza. However, few details are known about exactly where and when he was killed.
Israeli journalist Ben Caspit quoted sources as saying: “There have also been times in the past when he disappeared and we thought he was dead, but then he turned up again.”
According to Israeli media, intelligence is divided over whether he is actually dead.
Israeli journalist Barak Ravid quickly denied the claims, writing on X that “Israel has no intelligence information indicating that Haya Sinwar is dead.”
He quoted a senior official as saying: “These are expectations and guesses based solely on the fact that Sinwar has been out of touch for several weeks.”
Unconfirmed reports claim that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (pictured) has been killed in an Israeli airstrike
Israeli military leader Herzi Halevi (center) attends a meeting at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, as an Israeli military operation is conducted in Beirut, Lebanon, September 20, 2024.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar on September 21, 2024
The Jerusalem Post also reported that no sources had reported specific assassination plots by the Israeli army to kill the Hamas leader. According to The Jerusalem Post, a “top source has iced the idea.”
According to the newspaper, the Israeli military could neither confirm nor deny the reports, while the news site Walla noted that the Shin Bet intelligence service rejected the report and is convinced that Sinwar is still alive.
According to local media, the claims are based on the idea that Sinwar has been out of contact with Hamas representatives present at the ceasefire negotiations for longer than usual.
It is not the first time that Sinwar has been believed to have been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza.
Palestinians living in tents provided by the Turkish Red Crescent and aid organizations in the Jabaliya refugee camp, located in northern Gaza where Israeli attacks continue, face heavy rains that hit the region on September 22, 2024
This comes after the US admitted that little progress is being made in the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
In December, it was reported that Sinwar had been killed, wounded or fled to Sinai in Egypt.
It later emerged that as part of his hiding strategy he had not had any contact with his subordinates.
This week, a letter was sent on behalf of Sinwar to the Houthis in Yemen, praising the terror group for attacking Israel.
“The resistance is in good shape. We will break the political will of the enemy in the same way we broke his military will,” Sinwar reportedly wrote.
He is said to have added: ‘We have prepared for a long war of attrition that will break the enemy’s political will, just like the attack on Bul al-Aqsa. [October 7 attack] ‘broke his military willpower.’
This comes after the US admitted that little progress is being made in the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
National security spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that diplomatic teams “have not made any progress in the last week to two weeks. It’s not for lack of trying.”
He says Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is not “negotiating in good faith,” citing the recent killing of six Israeli hostages in tunnels under Gaza. “But that doesn’t mean we’re not trying.”