How Israel Found and Killed Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza

How Israel Found and Killed Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza

A unit of Israeli trainee soldiers came upon Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, while on an operation in southern Gaza, defense officials said.

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By Ronen Bergman and Aaron Boxerman

Reporting from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

For over a year, Israel’s security establishment, backed by the United States, dedicated vast resources and gathered mounds of intelligence in its hunt for Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was an architect of the Oct. 7 attacks.

But in the end, a unit of trainee squad commanders unexpectedly encountered Mr. Sinwar while on an operation in southern Gaza, according to four Israeli defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Where was Sinwar found?

The Israeli unit was on patrol in southern Gaza on Wednesday when the Israeli soldiers came upon a small group of fighters, the officials said. The soldiers — backed by drones — engaged in a firefight, and three Palestinian militants were killed.

During the battle, Israeli fire brought down part of a building where the militants had taken cover, two officials said. As the dust cleared and they began searching the building, the Israeli soldiers noticed that one of the bodies bore a shocking resemblance to the Hamas leader, the three officials said.

It was a seemingly unlikely place to find him. Israeli and U.S. intelligence had long assessed that Mr. Sinwar — fearful for his own safety — had been hiding deep underground, surrounding himself with Israeli hostages to avoid assassination.

How did he die?

Photographs obtained by The New York Times, some of which later circulated online, show the body of a man with facial features strongly resembling Mr. Sinwar. The man’s body has several severe wounds, including to the head and leg. The photographs show that the body has several features matching those seen in archival footage of Mr. Sinwar, including distinctive moles near his eyes and crooked teeth.

Hours after the fight was over, the soldiers approached the bodies cautiously. The area was still littered with explosive devices, two officials said. They also thought that the body of one fighter, later identified as Mr. Sinwar, was booby-trapped.

They found money and weaponry alongside the militants, according to one of the officials, who shared photos of the scene, including some in which the items were on display.

The troops, one of the officials said, were also concerned that there might be hostages in the area as well, but none were found with the fighters. There is no evidence that any of the hostages still held in Gaza were harmed during the battle, the Israeli military said.

On Thursday evening, the Israeli military, after completing its identification process, announced that Mr. Sinwar was dead.

How has Hamas responded?

On Friday, Hamas confirmed Mr. Sinwar’s death. “He died fighting and confronting the occupation army to his final moments,” his longtime deputy, Khalil al-Hayya, who is in exile in Qatar, said in an address mourning him on official Hamas television.

But he gave little indication that Hamas would be willing to make concessions to Israel that could end the war in Gaza.

“We are continuing Hamas’s path,” he said, adding that Mr. Sinwar’s “banner will not fall.”

Aric Toler, Riley Mellen and Christiaan Triebert contributed reporting.

Our Coverage of the Middle East Crisis

• A Surprise Battlefield Encounter: Although Yahya Sinwar was a major target of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the soldiers who killed the militant chief had not expected to run across him, Israeli officials said.
• Shake but Not Topple Hamas: Analysts call the killing of several Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, a deep blow to the Palestinian militant group, but expect it to keep fighting.
• Egypt Replaces Key Gaza Mediator: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt replaced the powerful head of the country’s intelligence services, according to state media, switching out the Egyptian official who plays a leading role in cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
• U.S. Indicts 2 Hackers: The Justice Department has accused two Sudanese brothers of cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure as well as preventing possibly lifesaving alerts from reaching Israelis as the Hamas attack unfolded.
• Hunger in Gaza: The U.N. has warned of the risk of famine for some 400,000 civilians in northern Gaza amid a renewed Israeli offensive in the enclave. Families say they are rationing what little food they can find.