The Israeli milit said Thursday it is “checking the possibility” that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused of being the architect of the Oct. 7 terror attack, was among three militants killed in Gaza during its operations in the enclave.
Sinwar was declared Hamas’ new political head in August following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. If Sinwar is indeed dead, his killing would be a major coup for Israel and its war in the Gaza Strip.
Israelis are awaiting confirmation from DNA testing to confirm the possible death of Sinwar, according to two U.S. officials and one senior Israeli official.
A senior Israeli official told NBC News that troops identified Sinwar as probably being among three militants killed during a “heavy gun battle” in Gaza on Wednesday. They said the operations in question had not intended to kill Sinwar, and DNA testing would need to be done before confirmation, the official added.
U.S. officials have been in close contact with Israeli officials throughout the morning on all of this, one of the U.S. officials said.
In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, said at least three militants were killed in a building during an operation in Gaza. They did not expand on how they were killed, but said they were investigating whether one of the three was Sinwar.
The IDF and Shin Bet said there were “no signs of the presence of hostages in the area” of the building where the three militants were killed.
“The forces that are operating in the area are continuing to operate with the required caution,” they added, saying more details would follow.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote in a post on X on Thursday: “‘You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.’ — Leviticus 26. Our enemies cannot hide. We will pursue and eliminate them.”
The IDF has previously vowed to capture Sinwar “dead or alive.”
National Security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was aware of reports Sinwar may be dead, but said government officials had not independently confirmed those reports.
“The Israelis seem pretty confident it was Sinwar,” Frank Lowenstein, former special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under President Barack Obama, told NBC News. “It’s just a little odd that he would be hanging around above ground with a small security detail and no hostages.”
Sinwar had been in charge of day-to-day governance in Gaza prior to Oct. 7, 2023 and was named Hamas’ new political head after Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike on his residence in Tehran.
