Yahya Sinwar, mastermind behind October 7 Israeli attack, killed: Israel

Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the Israeli attack that started the war in Gaza, and two others were killed in an IDF operation in Gaza. Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar was a Palestinian politician who served as the de facto leader of Hamas.

Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the Israeli attack that started the war in Gaza, and two others were killed in an IDF operation in Gaza. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who Israel claimed was killed in a military operation in Gaza on Thursday, was reportedly not the intended target of the mission. In fact, the IDF had no idea he was in the building where they were working.

According to a report by the Times of Israel, citing Hebrew media, Israeli soldiers observed several fighters from the Palestinian group enter a building during Wednesday's operation, triggering an airstrike that partially destroyed the structure.

The report said that the station also found cash and fake IDs at the site where the bodies were found. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday that Sinwar had been killed by troops in southern Gaza the previous day. 

“Dozens of operations conducted by the IDF and ISA (Shin Bet Internal Security Agency) last year and in the area where he was eliminated in recent weeks controlled Yahya Sinwar's operational movements. led to his elimination," the IDF said in a statement. Sinwar, who has been at the top of Israel's most wanted list since the Israel-Hamas war began a year ago, has yet to be confirmed by Hamas, but his death is a significant blow to the militant group.

Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in Iran in July, and Sinwar took over leadership in August, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, the former head of Hamas. But Israel has not commented on Haniya's death.