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Netanyahu announces 'beginning of last day' of Hamas
In his speech, broadcast on Israel's main television channel, Netanyahu stressed that Sinwar's removal symbolizes the end of Hamas' rule in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Prime Minister has called on Hamas radicals to lay down their arms and release the Israeli hostages taken a year ago.
Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel): "I am speaking to the Hamas terrorists. Your leaders are fleeing and will be destroyed. I am speaking to all those who are holding us hostage. Whoever lays down their arms and returns our hostages, we will let them go and leave them alive."
Netanyahu stressed that the military operation in the Gaza Strip will not end with the elimination of Sinwar and will continue “at full force” until the hostages are completely freed.
This morning, Israeli authorities officially confirmed that Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Hamas political bureau, was killed on October 16 during an IDF operation in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities hold Sinwar responsible for the attack on Hamas on October 7, 2023. Since then, 1,200 Israelis have been killed and hundreds more taken hostage.
Currently, about 100 Israeli hostages remain in the hands of extremists. Moreover, according to the Palestinian side, over the past year, as a result of Israeli retaliatory measures, more than 40 thousand residents of Gaza have died.
Yahya Sinwar took control of Hamas in August after the group's former leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in July.