How Israel hunted down and killed Hamas leader Sinwar, its number one enemy

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was followed by an Israeli mini-drone as he lay dying in the ruins of a building in southern Gaza and filmed him slumped in a dust-covered chair, video shows published Thursday by the Israeli authorities.

As the drone hovered nearby, the video showed him throwing a stick at him, in an apparent act of desperation.

After an intensive manhunt that lasted more than a year, Israeli troops who killed Sinwar were initially unaware they had caught their country’s number one enemy after a shootout Wednesday, Israeli officials said.

Intelligence gradually restricted the area in which he could operate, the military said Thursday, after dental records, fingerprints and DNA tests provided definitive confirmation of Sinwar’s death.

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How Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader considered the mastermind of October 7

How Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader considered the mastermind of October 7

But unlike other militant leaders hunted and killed by Israel, including Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, killed in an Israeli airstrike on July 13, the operation that ultimately killed Sinwar was not a planned strike and targeted, nor an operation led by Israel. elite commandos.