Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on October 17, 2024.

Israeli forces in Gaza killed Hamas’ top leader Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said on October 17, 2024. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel’s most wanted man.

Israeli leaders celebrated his killing as a settling of scores, just over a year after Hamas-led militants surged out of Gaza into southern Israel in an attack that stunned the country. They also presented it as a moment for Hamas to surrender and release some 100 hostages it still holds captive.

Still, Netanyahu said, “Our war has not yet ended.” Besides seeking the release of hostages, Netanyahu has said Israel must keep long-term control over Gaza to ensure Hamas does not rearm — opening the possibility of continued fighting.

For Hamas, Sinwar's death is a crippling blow, but it has continually proven resilient during the war. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas of Sinwar's death.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant addressed Hamas fighters, saying it “is time to go out, release the hostages, raise your hands, surrender.”

Sinwar has been Hamas’ top leader inside the Gaza Strip for years, closely connected to its military wing while dramatically building up its capabilities. He was elevated to Hamas' highest spot in July after his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.

In the past months, Israel has eliminated a string of senior figures from Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah with airstrikes. Israel has claimed to have killed the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike, but the group has said he survived.

But in Sinwar's case, troops found him by chance.

An Israeli military official said that Sinwar "engaged in combat” with Israeli troops operating in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, and was spotted running into a building. The army struck the building with tank fire.

The army had suspected a number of top Hamas officials including Sinwar were in the vicinity, but Sinwar was not the target of that day's specific operations, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity under military briefing rules.

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