Israel Kills Hamas Leader After Randomly Running Into Him in Gaza

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in a recent operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media and officials announced on Thursday, after soldiers randomly encountered him in the city of Rafah.

In an X publication, the official account of the Israeli government said that "three terrorists were eliminated" during IDF operations and that authorities are "checking the possibility" that Sinwar was one of them.

"At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed. In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area. The forces that are operating in the area are continuing to operate with the required caution. More details to follow," the publication adds. It was later confirmed that the body indeed belonged to Sinwar.

Sinwar was both the political and military leader of Hamas after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in July. He was also accused of being the mastermind of the October 7 attacks, when some 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. It is estimated that 101 of them remain captive in Gaza, with a third presumed dead.

The IDF and the Shin Bet intelligence agency said the incident took place on Wednesday night when, during a routine patrol, IDF soldiers encountered three armed men and killed them after exchanging fire. The encounter was incidental and not based on intelligence.

Sinwar, 61, was nicknamed the "butcher of Khan Younis," the city he was born in, due to his violent and uncompromising nature. He is considered a terrorist by the U.S. and was sanctioned in September of terrorism, murder conspiracy, and sanctions-evasion charges. Hamas is also a designated foreign terrorist organization.

"The Justice Department has charged Yahya Sinwar and other senior leaders of Hamas for financing, directing, and overseeing a decades-long campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the national security of the United States," said Attorney General Merrick Garland after the latest charges were unsealed.