The Israeli forces have released video footage claiming to have captured the final moments of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a key figure behind the October 7 attack on Israel last year. The purported video, captured by a drone deployed to survey the area, showed a visibly injured Sinwar sitting on a sofa, in a ruined Gaza apartment whose walls were blown out by Israeli shelling.
The film from a mini drone showed Sinwar, badly wounded in the hand, sitting on a chair, his face covered in a scarf, As the Israeli drone approached him, the wounded Hamas leader attempted to throw a piece of wood at it in a desperate attempt to avoid detection. However, moments later, another Israeli strike on the building caused it to collapse, killing Sinwar and two other militants.
Sinwar was later found in the ruins of the building "with a bulletproof vest and grenades and 40,000 shekels," according to Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari. When the footage was taken, Hagari said Sinwar was only identified as a fighter. His identity was later confirmed after DNA, dental records, and fingerprints tests.
Who Was Yahya Sinwar?
Sinwar, 62, was dubbed by Israelis "the Face of Evil" and the architect of the Hamas cross-border raids that became the deadliest day in Israel's history. Besides his brother, Mohammed, a top Hamas commander, Sinwar was believed to have been the last Hamas leader on a high-profile Israeli hit list drawn up after the October 7 attack.
For Sinwar, armed struggle remained the only way to force the creation of a Palestinian nation, Palestinian officials and Arab sources had reportedly said in weeks leading to the October 7 anniversary.
What Israel Said After His Death?
Israeli Intelligence services had been searching for Sinwar for months and had been gradually restricting the area where he could operate, the military said on Thursday, after dental records, fingerprints and DNA testing provided final confirmation of Sinwar's death.
"The dozens of operations carried out by the IDF and the ISA over the last year, and in recent weeks in the area where he was eliminated, restricted Yahya Sinwar's operational movement as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination," the Israeli military said in a statement.
However, unlike other Hamas leaders tracked and killed by Israel, including the group's military commander Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an airstrike on July 13, the operation which finally killed Sinwar was not planned.
Instead, officials said Sinwar was found by infantry soldiers searching an area in the Tal El Sultan area of southern Gaza on Wednesday, where they believed senior members of Hamas were located.
The troops saw three suspected militants moving between buildings and opened fire, leading to a gunfight during which Sinwar escaped into a ruined building.