Israeli Military Drone Footage Claims to Show Yahya Sinwar Shortly Before He Was Killed

Israeli Military Drone Footage Claims to Show Sinwar Shortly Before He Was Killed

The video shows a room that matches photographs obtained by The Times that show the corpse of a man closely resembling the Hamas leader.

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By Aric Toler and Christiaan Triebert

The Israeli military released a video on Thursday showing a drone flying into a building in Rafah, where a man the video identifies as Yahya Sinwar is sitting on a chair. The Israeli military described the video as showing Mr. Sinwar “moments before his elimination.”

While the video has been edited, it is clear that the man, who is covered in dust, watches the drone for at least 20 seconds before throwing an object, possibly a stick, at the drone. The Times could not independently verify the identity of the man.

The room seen in the drone video matches the location of earlier photographs obtained by The New York Times showing the corpse of a man closely resembling Mr. Sinwar. There is new damage to a wall of the room visible in the photographs, which indicates that an explosion occurred at some point after the drone footage. Also in the photos, the corpse is wearing a green kaffiyeh similar to the one worn by the man in the video.

The room is on the second floor of a residential building in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah in southern Gaza. Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military released several videos of Israeli soldiers in the area after Mr. Sinwar was killed. The Times determined this footage was filmed near the same house in northern Rafah.

Israel’s military has recently expanded its operations in this neighborhood of Rafah. A video filmed in September showed soldiers going on a patrol in Rafah from a nearby military position. In the clip, the soldiers drive by the house in which Mr. Sinwar was later killed, although it is not clear whether he was in the building at the time the footage was filmed.

Our Coverage of the Middle East Crisis

• 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.
• U.S. Attack on Houthis: The U.S. military struck five underground weapons facilities in Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, using warplanes that included B-2 stealth bombers.
• Human Shields: A Times investigation found that Israeli soldiers and intelligence agents have regularly forced captured Palestinians to conduct life-threatening reconnaissance missions to avoid putting Israeli soldiers at risk.
• Strikes in Lebanon: Israel bombed the densely populated southern outskirts of Beirut for the first time in days and also struck a southern Lebanese city where local officials were meeting, killing at least 16 people, including the mayor.
• Lebanon’s Hospitals Buckle: The U.N. says “the targeting of health and relief operations is broadening” in Lebanon. Hospitals say they have been forced to close or are struggling to operate.