Israel on Thursday confirmed the death of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who orchestrated the October 7, 2023 attack. The assassination was just the latest in a series of killings of Hamas leaders and other militants since the start of the Gaza raids and war.
Saleh al-ArouriA vice-chairman and founding member of the Hamas leadership council, he was killed in Beirut in January 2024 in an apparent Israeli airstrike. The 57-year-old is accused of leading and playing a key role in Hamas' military operations in the occupied West Bank. within the group's financial network. Mr. Allouri was also believed to be running Hamas' relationships with other groups, including Hezbollah and the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In March of this year, an airstrike killed several people. Marwan Issaa senior military commander and one of the Close Circle who knew of the plan for the October 7 attack. Issa was targeted as he moved between bases without hostages. After the attack, Hamas leaders completely cut off communication with each other or anyone else for several days, fearing that an intrusion or technical security breach could expose everything.
In July, heavy Israeli airstrikes caused deaths in Almawashi, a safe humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip. Mohamed Deif, Shinwar's aide. The 58-year-old, another veteran of decades of combat, survived seven previous assassination attempts by Israel but is believed to have sustained permanent injuries. Deif oversaw suicide bombing operations in the 1990s and more recently Hamas' efforts to build more effective rockets in the Gaza Strip and its vast tunnel complexes throughout the region. He is also believed to have been in charge of training Hamas's elite Nuqba unit. The attack that killed him also killed 90 civilians.
Fuad ShukrMr. Shukr, 63, a founding member of the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah based in Lebanon, was involved in large-scale suicide bombings against targets in the United States, France and Israel in 1983. . He played a key role in developing Hezbollah's military capabilities, holding the role of Chief of Staff within Hezbollah and serving as a senior military advisor to its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
A day later, Ismail Haniya, The head of the Hamas leadership council was killed when a bomb exploded in his bedroom at a government guesthouse in Tehran. Haniya, 60, was in the Iranian capital for the inauguration of new president Masoud Pezeshkian. Haniyeh, another founding member of Hamas, is believed to have had no prior knowledge of the October 7 attack, and relations with Shinwar have been strained. Dozens of his family members reportedly died in Israeli military attacks and shelling in the Gaza Strip.
In September, Hassan NasrallahHezbollah, who led Hezbollah for more than 30 years, was killed by Israel in a series of attacks on the group's underground headquarters in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut. Nasrallah, 64, has built up a passionate personal following, led the Shiite Islamic movement through a number of vicissitudes, balanced the demands of a military role with the demands of an extensive social welfare system, and led the political branch. constructed and negotiated various crises that occurred in various places. region. He drew praise from his supporters but intense personal hostility from his opponents.
