Death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar marks pivotal moment

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Thursday - announced Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz. - The mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, [was] responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, added the diplomat.

Katz is the first representative of the Israeli authorities to announce Sinwar's death officially. Soon after, both the Israeli armed forces and the Shin Bet security service confirmed the news.

On Thursday afternoon, reports began emerging in the media regarding the death of the Hamas leader.

Pursued for years by Israel, the terrorist leader is said to have been killed during an Israeli military attack in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, along with two other Hamas members. Subsequently, it was stated that Israeli services were verifying whether Sinwar was among those killed.

The 61-year-old Sinwar had been a member of Hamas for decades, spending over 20 years in an Israeli prison, and in August of this year, he was elected as the leader of the organisation following the death of his predecessor in an Israeli attack.

Sinwar was widely regarded as one of the architects of the attack on Israel on 7th October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were kidnapped. Since then, he had been at the top of Israel's wanted list. Following the outbreak of the conflict, he was presumed to be hiding within the extensive network of tunnels constructed by Hamas beneath the Gaza Strip.

According to the Gaza Strip's health ministry, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli retaliatory operation against Hamas. The Palestinian enclave is in ruins and facing a humanitarian crisis.