Israel says it killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar

This story has been updated with new information.

Israel said Thursday that after a year-long pursuit it killed Hamas' military leader Yahya Sinwar, regarded as the architect of the militant group's Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

"Today we have settled the score," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded statement in which he vowed to continute the war in Gaza until all the remaining Israeli hostages taken by Hamas were returned.

The Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 last year targeted communities in southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed. A further 251 were kidnapped to Gaza. The attacks resulted in Israel launching a war in Gaza, meant to wipe out Hamas, that has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry

Hamas has not publicly commented. Sinwar's killing came on the Jewish high holiday of Sukkot, known as the Jewish Thanksgiving, which celebrates the renewal of life.

It is unclear what Sinwar's death will mean for the war in Gaza. In particular, attempts to reach a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas aimed at securing the release of Israel's hostages and allowing more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.

Sinwar, 61, topped Israel's most-wanted list.

"Yahya Sinwar planned and executed the October 7th Massacre, promoted his murderous ideology both before and during the war, and was responsible for the murder and abduction of many Israelis," the IDF said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said "the elimination of Sinwar opens the possibility for the immediate release of the hostages and paves the way for a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza."

Still, Anat Berko, a former IDF intelligence colonel, who spent long stretches of her career engaging with militants held by Israel, said "we don't yet know" what impact Sinwar's death will have on efforts to reach a truce.

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"But it's much better that he's taken out of the system," she added, referring to Sinwar. "I would ask the question: 'Is it bad that (Al Qaeda leader) Osama bin Laden is not alive?' No, it's good for the world."

Berko said that Sinwar's death might immediately raise hopes for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. However, she's not certain that will happen. She also believes there's other Hamas figures who could take Sinwar's place, such as his brother, Mohammed, who is part of Hamas' military leadership. He is believed to still be in Gaza.

"I think (Israel) will find there are enough terrorists to negotiate with," she said.

Sinwar has been Hamas’s top leader in Gaza for years. He also assumed control of the group’s political bureau after Israel killed the previous leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in July.

Biden sees opportunity for 'day after' in Gaza

President Joe Biden, in a written statement, said Israeli authorities informed his national security team early Thursday morning that a mission conducted in Gaza had likely killed Sinwar.

“DNA tests have now confirmed that Sinwar is dead. This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world,” Biden said, calling Siwar "the man most responsible" for the Oct. 7 rampage and the war that followed. He said U.S. intelligence had been working with the Israelis to locate Sinwar.

Biden said he plans to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders to discuss the “pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all.”

“There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Biden said. “Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us.”

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Sinwar was obstacle in ceasefire-hostage talks

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, traveling with Biden to Germany, said Sinwar had been “a massive” obstacle to peace in Gaza and efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

The Hamas leader "was more interested in causing mayhem and chaos and death than actually trying to achieve a ceasefire and hostage deal,” Sullivan said. “We repeatedly saw a moment where it was him, in particular, who stood in the way of making progress towards the ceasefire-hostage deal.”

'Justice has been served,' VP Harris says

"Justice has been served," Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, said in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where she was holding a campaign event. "And the United States, Israel and the entire world are better off as a result."

The vice president said Sinwar’s death “gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza," and echoed Biden by saying it is time for a "'day after' to begin without Hamas in power.”

Sinwar known for ruthlessness

Sinwar was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza in 1962. It's long been believed that he helped establish Hamas' internal security service, known as Majd. Among Majd's tasks is finding and executing alleged Palestinian collaborators with Israel.

Sinwar was arrested by Israel in the late 1980s for allegedly orchestrating the killing of two Israel soldiers and several other Palestinians he accused of being collaborators. He was sentenced to four life sentences by Israel and had spent more of his life in jail than outside it when he released in a prisoner swap in 2011 that freed Gilad Shalit, an Israeli solider held captive by Hamas for five years.

One former Israeli security services official, who is still active in the reserves and asked not to be identified for that reason, said that Sinwar's ruthlessness expressed itself in different ways.

The official said that while in prison Sinwar learned Hebrew and studied Israeli history and its military tactics and read widely about Israel's political and security leaders. He also continued to hunt for perceived Palestinian collaborators, whom he had murdered and whose bodies he arranged to have thrown at the prison's front gate directly in sight of guards.

Sinwar wished to signal, the official said, "that there is no life for anyone who helps Israel."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar