The Israel Defense Forces said the war was not over following the killings in the Gaza Strip. Yahya SinwarHamas' top leader and mastermind of the terrorist group's October 7 attack, which is expected to continue until the hostages taken during that day's massacre are returned.
IDF Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari released declassified footage showing Sinwar in the hours before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack and his movements in Gaza, where he fled over the past year. Hagari said 101 hostages were still being held in Gaza after a year of captivity in “inexorable conditions”.
“Sinwar's killing is the result of a year of operations and intelligence to bring him and other Hamas leaders to justice. Sinwar has been eliminated, but our mission is not over,” Hagari said in a video statement Saturday. No,” he said. “We will not rest until we bring all the hostages home by any means possible, and we will continue to protect the people of Israel from all threats on our borders.”
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Israeli military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari speaks to reporters from Kirya, home to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, in Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Hours before the October 7 attack in which Hamas terrorists killed about 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds more hostage to Gaza, Shinwar left his family with a bed, a pillow, food, water, and a TV. He hid his equipment indoors and was videotaped alone. It's an underground tunnel network, Hagari said.
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While Shinwar's location was kept secret while he ordered attacks from underground tunnels, “Shinwar has always prioritized himself, his money, and Hamas terrorists over the people of Gaza.” “This was a luxury that the people of Gaza did not have,” Hagari said. . “Each step was designed to maximize harm to Israeli and Gaza civilians and minimize harm to himself and other terrorists.”
A banner with a photo of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in an Israeli attack, is hung on a street in Tehran, Iran, on October 19, 2024. (Fateme Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Throughout the war that Shinwar started, he remained hidden among the people of Gaza,” Hagari said.
In February, Hagari said Israeli forces discovered Sinwar's underground hideout in Khan Yunis, which was equipped with money, food, a bed, documents, a shower and a kitchen. Hagari said an IDF operation in Khan Yunis forced Shinwar to flee to Rafah last month.
Hagari said Sinwar's DNA was recovered from a piece of tissue “several hundred meters” away from the tunnel where six Israeli hostages were executed in Rafah and then Sinwar escaped again.
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“When Sinwar ran for his life on the ground, it was the first and last time he encountered Israeli soldiers in combat,” Hagari said. “Sinwar was eliminated by the IDF in Rafah last Wednesday. I want to emphasize again that this was the first and last time he encountered Israeli soldiers and was eliminated. There were no hostages.”
