Israeli officials say Yahya Sinwar likely killed; Hamas yet to respond

Tel Aviv: Israel claims that a man resembling Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in an attack yesterday. However, Hamas has not responded. The media reported, citing the Israel Defense Forces, that a DNA test would be conducted to determine if the deceased was Sinwar himself.

Channel 12 reports that three people were killed in a shooting incident on the ground floor of a building and upon entering the building, the army said that one of the deceased resembled Sinwar. Confirmation will take hours and a sample will be collected for DNA testing, the report said.

Earlier, Israel accused Sinwar of using hostages as human shields. However, the IDF said in a statement that there were no hostages at the scene and that they could not confirm at this time who had died. It added that IDF and Shin Bet forces were stationed near the demolished building.

At the same time, the media reported that the building was not attacked because Sinwar was there, rather the army opened fire as they saw several fighters in the building. Those who arrived to inspect the damage discovered that one of the victims resembled Sinwar. The pictures are widely circulated online under the name of Yahya Sinwar.

Meanwhile, amid speculation that Sinwar had been killed, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant tweeted, “We will reach every terrorist — and eliminate them.” The tweet was accompanied by photos of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in Beirut last month, and former Hamas military head Mohammed Deif, who Israel said was killed in August, with a space for a third photo between them. All three were crossed out in red.