The Israel Defense Forces and the country’s domestic security agency Shin Bet have announced that it is investigating whether Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar was killed on Thursday in the Gaza Strip.
The agencies said in a joint statement that “During IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, three terrorists were eliminated” and that it was “checking the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar.”
“In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area,” they added. “The forces that are operating in the area are continuing to operate with the required caution.”
Referred to by Israel as the Butcher of Khan Younis for his violent and cruel torture methods against his enemies, both Israeli and Palestinian, Sinwar, 60, is widely seen as being behind the massacre of Israeli civilians carried out by thousands of Hamas militants on Oct. 7.
HAMAS NAMES YAHYA SINWAR, MASTERMIND OF OCT. 7 ATTACKS, AS ITS NEW LEADER
Yahya Sinwar chairs a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions at his office in Gaza City, April 13, 2022. (AP)
Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht had told reporters last October that “Sinwar is the leader of Hamas in Gaza and he’s a dead man walking.”
“We will get to him, however long it takes… and this war could be long,” he said.
Sinwar was believed to be somewhere in the Palestinian enclave but hidden deep underground in the warren of tunnels Hamas uses to transport weapons and fighters and where they may even be keeping the hostages, was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp when the area was part of Egypt.
According to multiple sources, he was always a militant activist and joined Hamas not long after its founding in 1987. Two years later, he was arrested by Israel for his involvement in the abduction and killing of two Israelis, as well as the torturing and murder of four Palestinians he considered to be collaborators.
ISRAEL’S HUNT FOR HAMAS TERROR LEADER YAHYA SINWAR: ‘DEAD MAN WALKING’
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader, waves to a crowd in Gaza. (Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Sentenced to life in prison, Sinwar ended up serving 22 years in an Israeli jail and was eventually released as part of a prisoner exchange for the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.
“Sinwar has been active since the early days of Hamas,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, previously told Fox News Digital. “In jail, he became a prominent leader of Hamas prisoners and was a very influential figure among all Palestinian prisoners.”
After being returned to Gaza as part of the Shalit deal, Sinwar became a popular leader in Hamas, an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, and in 2017 was elected by secret ballot to replace the incumbent political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran this July.
Yahya Sinwar appears during a ceremony for Hamas fighters killed by Israeli airstrikes at Yarmouk football stadium in May 2021 in Gaza City. (Laurent Van der Stockt/Getty Images)
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Following Haniyeh’s death, Sinwar was named Hamas’ new leader.