The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) released on Thursday footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's final moments before being killed. After randomly encountering a group of armed people hiding in a building, a tank unit fired on the building.
The impact seems to have fatally wounded Sinwar, something that was later confirmed by the 450th infantry battalion upon entering the building. Troops didn't know the Hamas chief was part of the group, something they only found out after searching through the rubble.
Before that, an IDF mini-drone entered the building to assess the situation. It found a masked man whose right hand had been seemingly blown off and crouching behind a couch. The man later turned out to be Sinwar.
יושב רעול פנים ומשליך מקל על רחפן צה"לי | תיעוד רגעיו האחרונים של יחיא סינוואר@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/kMdoPBm8hP
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Israeli and other global leaders have celebrated the development, with Prime Minister Bejnamin Netanyahu quickly offering an immunity deal to Hamas members. Concretely, he said that whoever lays down their arms and help return the hostages taken on the October 7 attacks will be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip unharmed.
The message partly echoes that of his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, who earlier called on Gaza residents to release the hostages.
"Residents of Gaza, the end of the man that got you into a mess has come. Get out with the hostages, release them and surrender," Galant said in a televised statement published on his X account.
Israeli politicians and analysts are claiming that the killing of Sinwar could catalyze a breakthrough in the war and the release of the 101 hostages left in Gaza, a third of whom are presumed dead.
However, the organization that represents the hostages' families and loved ones were not as optimistic, even expressing their concern that they could be summarily executed as vengeance for the killing.
"While acknowledging the significant achievement, the families of the hostages express grave concern for the fate of 101 men, women and children still held captive by Hamas, and urge leveraging this major achievement into an immediate deal to secure hostages' return," the organization said in a statement.
U.S. President Biden released a statement regarding the development as well. He said Sinwar's death was a "good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world," comparing it to the feeling in the U.S. after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
He also said he would soon speak with the Israeli leader to "discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all, which has caused so much devastation to innocent people."
Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris also celebrated Sinwar's death after a campaign stop in Milwaukee, saying that "justice has been served,"
"He had American blood on his hands," Harris said, adding that the death should lead to the end of Israel's offensive operation. "This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza."
She also added that the war "must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."
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