The Israeli military has announced that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has ‘likely’ been killed in their strike. In a statement released on Thursday, the Israeli military claimed that three people were killed in their attack in Gaza. They believe one of the deceased is likely Yahya Sinwar, though they cannot confirm this with certainty yet. The identities of the deceased are being verified.
Hamas has not immediately responded to this statement from the Israeli forces. Al-Majd, a website typically associated with Hamas security matters, is advising Palestinians to wait for information from Hamas rather than relying on Israeli media reports about Sinwar.
Meanwhile, Israeli Army Radio reports that three people were killed in an Israeli ground operation in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli forces have possession of the three bodies. Video and photo evidence suggests one of the deceased is Sinwar, though the military is conducting DNA tests to confirm the identities.
If Sinwar’s death is confirmed, it would be another major blow to Hamas. Several top-level Hamas leaders, including a former chief, have been killed in recent Israeli strikes.
Ismail Haniyeh, the then-head of Hamas’s political wing, was killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, last July. Yahya Sinwar was appointed as Hamas leader after that. Israel believes Sinwar was the main architect of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel last year. Sinwar had spent many years in Israeli prisons before being released in a prisoner exchange in 2011.
Mohammad Almasri, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that if Sinwar’s death is confirmed, Hamas will need to go through a restructuring process, as its leadership structure has already been significantly damaged.”
This translation aims to maintain the accuracy and tone of the original Bengali article while making it accessible to English readers.
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