The Israeli army said Thursday it was “checking” whether Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was killed during a military operation in Gaza
A brief military statement did not provide details of the specific operation or when it was conducted, but said Sinwar may have been one of three slain Palestinian militants.
During “operations in the Gaza Strip, three militants were eliminated”, and Israeli defence agencies “are checking the possibility that one of them was Yahya Sinwar. At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed,” it said.
“In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area,” the military added.
Israel accuses Sinwar, 61, of being the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war, along with Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif.
The Israeli military has said Deif was killed in a strike earlier this year though the Palestinian group has not confirmed it.
Sinwar in August replaced Hamas’s former chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran on July 31. Israel has not claimed responsiblity for Haniyeh’s death.
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