Deir al-Balah: The Israeli military said on Thursday it was looking into whether Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in a military operation in Gaza. Authorities were conducting DNA tests on a body to determine if it is him, an Israeli security official said.
The military said in a statement that three militants were killed during operations in Gaza, without specifying where or elaborating further. It said the identities of the three were so far not confirmed, but it was “checking the possibility” that one of them was Sinwar.
Israel Conducting DNA Test on Body To Confirm Whether Hamas Top Leader Sinwar Has Been Killed
The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the tests on the body had not yet confirmed if it was Sinwar’s, news agency AP reported.
There was no immediate comment by Hamas on the report.
Sinwar was one of the chief architects of Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel has vowed to kill him since the beginning of its retaliatory campaign in Gaza.
If confirmed, Sinwar’s death could be a heavy blow to the militant group. He has been Hamas’ top leader inside the Gaza Strip for years, closely connected to its military wing while dramatically building up its capabilities.
Sinwar Was Appointed Top Leader of Hamas After Ismail Haniyeh’s Assasination
Sinwar was chosen as Hamas’s top leader after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in July in an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran. Israel has also claimed to have killed the head of Hamas’ military wing Mohammed Deif in an airstrike, but the group has said he survived.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on Israel’s investigation into whether it killed Sinwar, and US officials have been in close contact with Israeli officials throughout Thursday morning, according to a senior administration official.
The report came as Israeli forces continued a more than week-old major air and ground assault in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. On Thursday, an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing at least 15 people, including five children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Fares Abu Hamza, head of Gaza Health Ministry’s local emergency unit, said dozens of people were wounded. He said the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was struggling to treat the casualties.
“Many women and children are in critical condition,” he said.
The Israeli military said it targeted a command centre run by Hamas and Islamic Jihad inside the school. It provided a list of around a dozen names of people it identified as militants who were present when the strike was called in. It was not immediately possible to verify the names.
The military campaign began in response to a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths, primarily among civilians, and the abduction of around 250 individuals. About 100 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza, with a third thought to be deceased.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the ongoing offensive has claimed over 42,000 Palestinian lives, with more than half being women and children, though the ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Northern Gaza, the initial focus of Israel’s ground invasion nearly a year ago, has experienced the most destruction, with many neighborhoods in Gaza City and surrounding areas reduced to rubble. Most residents evacuated after Israel issued orders early in the conflict, but around 400,000 are thought to have remained under dire conditions.
Recently, Israel ordered another complete evacuation of northern Gaza and halted food aid to the area for about two weeks, leading to fears of a “surrender-or-starve” strategy, as suggested by former Israeli military leaders. Following U.S. pressure regarding the humanitarian crisis, Israel permitted two aid shipments to the north this week.
Since the conflict began, Israeli forces have frequently conducted operations in Jabaliya, a densely populated refugee camp established during the 1948 war around Israel’s founding. The military alleges that militants have consistently regrouped in this area after significant operations.
(With inputs from AP)
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