The Israel Defense Forces said it has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli troops had for more than a year hunted the leader of Hamas, who disappeared in Gaza soon after masterminding the 7 October attacks.
Yahya Sinwar, 61, was said to have spent much of his time hiding in the tunnels under the Strip, along with a cadre of bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages seized from Israel.
He was eliminated during an encounter with an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza where it was said his guard detail was small and no hostages were found with him.
There has been no comment from Hamas on Sinwar, who succeeded Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh after his assassination by Israel in July.
According the reports, three militants were identified and engaged by the Israeli troops – and all were eliminated.
At that stage nothing seemed particularly remarkable about the firefight and the soldiers did not return to the scene until Thursday morning.
It was then, as the dead were inspected, that one of the bodies was found to bear a striking resemblance to the leader of Hamas.
The corpse however remained in situ due to suspected booby traps and instead, part of a finger was removed and sent to Israel for testing.
His body was finally extracted and brought to Israel later that day as the area was made safe.
Daniel Hagari, the IDF’s spokesman, said his forces “didn’t know he was there but we continued to operate”.
He said his troops had identified the three men running from house to house, and engaged them before they split up.
The man since identified as Sinwar “ran alone into one of the buildings” and was killed after being located with a drone.
None of the hostages Sinwar was believed to be using as a human shield were present and his small retinue suggests either he was trying to move unnoticed, or had lost many of those protecting him.
Killing Sinwar was a major goal for Israel, which marked him for death soon after the 7 October attacks. But his end does not end the war in Gaza.
Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had “settled the score”, he insisted the war would continue – not least to save the 101 hostages still held by Hamas.
“To the dear hostage families, I say: this is an important moment in the war. We will continue full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home.”
In Israel, families of hostages said they hoped a ceasefire could now be reached that would bring home the captives.
