ISRAEL’S FOREIGN MINISTER has said that the country’s army has killed Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas who masterminded the devastating attack on 7 October. 

In a statement, Israel Katz said: “The mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7th, was eliminated today by IDF soldiers.”

Katz called Sinwar’s killing a “military and moral achievement for the Israeli army”.

“The assassination of Sinwar will create the possibility to immediately release the hostages and to bring a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza – without Hamas and without Iranian control.”

There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas of his death. 

IDF: Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization who was responsible for planning and executing the October 7th Massacre, has been eliminated.

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 17, 2024

Earlier today, a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, said that they were “checking the possibility” that Sinwar was one of three people killed in an operation in Gaza. 

“During IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, three terrorists were eliminated,” said the statement, which was posted to Telegram and X. 

“The IDA and ISA [Shin Bet] are checking the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar. At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed.” 

There were no hostages being held in the building where the three terrorists were killed, the agencies said. 

Sinwar has topped Israel’s most wanted list since the attack on 7 October 2023. He was the head of Hamas in Gaza during the attack, but he rose to become the group’s overall leader in August after the killing of the group’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Israeli president Isaac Herzog said Sinwar has “for years been responsible for heinous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians, citizens of other countries, and the murder of thousands of innocent people”. 

He said that Israel must now act “in every way possible to bring back the 101 hostages” who are still being held by Hamas in Gaza. 

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock branded Sinwar “a cruel murderer and a terrorist”. She said Hamas should “immediately release all the hostages” and “lay down its arms”.

Hamas’s 7 October attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people on Israeli soil, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 42,438 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The UN acknowledges the figures to be reliable.