On Thursday, news began to spread that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, 62, had died fighting a group of Israeli soldiers in formation who encountered him by chance.
On Friday, Hamas confirmed his death while participating in a battle in Tal as-Sultan, Rafah, on Wednesday.
The fact that Sinwar died fighting has added a closing chapter to his story as a fighter and leader who has been involved with Hamas since its founding.
Who was Yayha Sinwar?
Sinwar was the leader of Hamas.
He has led Hamas in Gaza since the deaths of the group's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and top commander Mohammed Deif in Gaza in July this year.
He spent 22 years in an Israeli prison before being freed in 2011 during a prisoner exchange.
He was said to have led Hamas's response to the Israeli war in Gaza, as well as negotiations for a ceasefire.
Negotiators at peace talks in Cairo and Doha say Hamas officials would suspend discussions to hand over instructions to Sinwar in Gaza.
Over the past year, the Israeli military combed through what remains of the Gaza Strip after it leveled much of the enclave's infrastructure and killed more than 42,000 people.
Israel has been trying to kill Sinwar for allegedly masterminding the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, during which 1,139 people were killed and some 250 taken captive.
How was Sinwar killed? Was it part of a specific operation?
No.
Sometime between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, a patrol from the Israeli army's Bislach Brigade training unit was conducting searches in the Tal as-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah.
They saw a small group of fighters moving between the buildings, one of whom was later identified as Sinwar.
Using drones to help identify the location of the fighters, the patrol exchanged gunfire with the group, killing three fighters.
A fighter entered a damaged building and the patrol sent a drone after him.
Defiant until the end, Sinwar, who was injured and resting on a destroyed armchair, threw a stick at the drone that was searching the building to find the last masked combatant.
The building was then bombed by tanks and missiles, killing Sinwar.
His body remained intact for some time because the soldiers feared booby traps and waited until the area was secured.
Sinwar's body was then taken to a laboratory in Israel, where police confirmed a match with his fingerprint and dental records, taken during his previous incarceration.
Where was Sinwar killed?
In Tal as-Sultan, a neighborhood that the Israeli army has already largely destroyed.
Research group Bellingcat has verified the location using footage that the Israeli military filmed in September.
This suggests that Israeli troops were already familiar with the district before their informal meeting with the Hamas leader this week.
Geolocation of the place where Sinwar's body was found in the Tal as-Sultan area. The house is located at 31.3055, 34.2467. The viewpoint (green) is seen with the white tower (red) and the house across the street (pink) visible in other reference images.
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– Jake Godin (@JakeGodin) j2Q">October 17, 2024
Did Israel find Sinwar using its intelligence?
The unit that stumbled upon Sinwar was reportedly one of the squad commanders in training who did not know the Hamas leader was there, according to the New York Times, citing four unnamed Israeli officials.
Both the United States and Israel say their intelligence helped locate Sinwar or narrow the area through which he could move.
But there isn't much evidence to support that.
Responding to the news of Sinwar's death, US President Joe Biden said he had “directed Special Operations personnel and our intelligence professionals to work closely with their Israeli counterparts to help locate and track Sinwar.” shortly after the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Israel was also quick to credit their intelligence, claiming that their efforts had determined the area where Sinwar was and had been closing in on the Hamas leader.
What resources had been deployed to locate Sinwar?
Sinwar has been the Israeli government's number one target in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
A special unit was established to find Sinwar within the Shin Wager, Israel's internal intelligence force.
In support of the Shin Wager, US agencies were said to be intercepting electronic communications to help locate Sinwar and providing “ground penetrating radar”.
Despite all this, the man described as a “dead man walking” by the Israeli military eluded detection by one of the most sophisticated surveillance networks in the world.
Israeli and American officials said Sinwar was harder to find because he did not use electronic communications, which could be traced.
In February, Israeli officials said Sinwar was hiding in Hamas tunnels, surrounding himself with captives who were being used as human shields, according to the Washington Submit.
Israeli soldiers searched the area where Sinwar died fighting, but did not find any captives used as human shields.
Has Israel come close to killing Sinwar before?
He certainly claims so.
In May 2021, an Israeli airstrike hit Sinwar's home in Khan Younis. No victims were reported.
On November 7 last year, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed that Israeli forces had surrounded Gaza City and that Sinwar was “trapped” in a bunker there.
On December 6, the Israeli army surrounded Sinwar's home, despite Israeli media reporting that “there was no indication that he resides there, as he is in hiding and owns several houses.”
In September this year, Israel's Directorate of Military Intelligence reportedly suggested that Sinwar may have been killed in previous attacks on Gaza. He admitted he had no evidence for that claim other than the recent lack of intercepted communications.
Sinwar contacted the Hamas negotiating team in Doha the following month.
What happens next?
It remains to be seen how Sinwar's death may affect the course of Israel's bloody war in Gaza.
Sinwar's death has prompted even more aggressive rhetoric from both Israel's military leaders and its prime minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, who told viewers – in an apparent nod to British World War II leader Winston Churchill – that while Sinwar's assassination may not mark the end of Israel's war against Gaza, it may signal “the beginning of the end.”
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