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Israeli Foreign Ministry Confirms Elimination of Hamas Leader
Israel's foreign minister called the ouster of the Hamas leader a major achievement and a victory for "the entire free world." Sinwar took over the group's politburo after the death of Ismail Haniyeh.
He called the operation a major achievement for Israel and "a victory for the entire free world in the fight against the Islamic axis of evil led by Iran."
The IDF announced the possible elimination of Sinwar on the afternoon of October 17. The ministry said that three militants were killed in the Gaza Strip and that one of them may be the head of the Hamas political bureau.
According to Channel 12, the Israeli military did not know that Sinwar was in the building they were asked to attack. After the attack, the militants went inside and found the body of a man who looked like Sinwar. The body was identified using dental photographs and DNA testing. Kan noted that Israeli authorities have a sample of Sinwar's DNA and should quickly confirm the identity of the dead man. He spent a long time in an Israeli prison.
Sinwar, 61, a founding member of Hamas, has headed the organisation's politburo since August. The Guardian named him as one of the key architects of the October 7 attack on Israel last year. Sinwar spent more than 20 years in Israeli prisons before being released in a prisoner swap in 2011.
Sinwar took over Hamas's politburo after the assassination of his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a bombing at his Tehran residence in late July as he attended the inauguration of new President Masoud Fezeshkian.
Last September, Israel eliminated Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of another Islamist group, Lebanon's Hezbollah, in an airstrike on his underground headquarters outside Beirut.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue to attack his enemies. “There is no place in Iran or the Middle East that is beyond the reach of Israel’s long arm, and today you already know how true that is,” the prime minister said.