What happens now that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed?
ITV News Correspondent Peter Smith reports from Tel Aviv on what could happen next following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and the possibility of someone even more hardline taking his place
Yahya Sinwar is the man Israel said was the “mastermind” behind the October 7 atrocities - the leader of Hamas in Gaza who led the Palestinian people into this war of the last year, whether they wanted to or not.
Today, Israel confirmed that he had been "eliminated" after troops encountered Sinwar during a routine military operation.
As Hamas leader, Sinwar is a symbol for the liberation of the Palestinian people and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
But he also openly stands for the destruction of Israel. He acted upon this in October last year when Hamas launched an audacious and bloodthirsty assault on Israel, killing over 1,000 and taking 251 civilians and soldiers back to the tunnels of Gaza as hostage.
After that, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Yahya Sinwar was “a dead man walking”.
He became Israel’s most-wanted man, and for over a year he has been hunted across Gaza but somehow managed to escape being killed or captured.
It was believed Sinwar was hiding out deep underground in the labyrinth of tunnels under Gaza, far from the reach of Israel’s Air Force.
But today’s IDF operation was an entirely accidental encounter.
There was no special operation that was following intelligence to the location of Yahya Sinwar.
In fact, it is believed this was an entirely routine IDF patrol in Gaza that happened upon a group of men suspected of being Palestinian militants.
In a joint statement, the IDF and Israel Securities Authority (ISA) said: "The IDF and ISA confirm that after a year-long pursuit, yesterday (Wednesday), October 16, 2024, IDF soldiers from the Southern Command eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organisation, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip.
"Yahya Sinwar was eliminated after hiding for the past year behind the civilian population of Gaza, both above and below ground in Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip."
It is understood this happened in a building above ground and not in a tunnel.
Who is Yahya Sinwar?
Born in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis in 1962, Yahya Sinwar was raised in the Gaza Strip.
He went to the Islamic University there and joined Hamas very early on in the group’s beginnings - likely around 1988.
Hamas is believed to have been founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, before moving from Islamist politics to being a religiously motivated armed resistance group for Palestinians.
Hamas became a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK in 2001.
Sinwar established himself in Hamas as an ‘enforcer’ - accused of the murder of four Palestinians he suspected of collaborating with Israel.
He was arrested in 1989 for these suspected murders and also for planning the abduction and murder of two IDF soldiers.
More than two decades in an Israeli prison proved critical in the story of Yahya Sinwar.
He was released in 2011 as part of the last major prisoner swap Israel engaged in with Hamas over Gilad Shalit - a captured IDF soldier.
The fact that the process led to the release of the man who then went on to lead the 7 October atrocities has undoubtedly had a bearing on hostage negotiations now, with Israelis wary that they had someone like Sinwar in their hands and let him go.
Sinwar emerged from prison more popular and powerful. He went on to become Hamas leader in Gaza in 2017 - responsible for countless attacks on Israel.
What does his death mean?
After news confirming that Yahya Sinwar has been killed, it is undoubtedly the single biggest military victory Israel has achieved in its war on Hamas over the last year.
This is also a significant blow to Hamas, and it comes within a month of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah being killed by an Israeli bombing of Beirut.
However, there are others who still form part of a leadership network in Hamas.
It is not a centralised group with one single head.
In fact, Israel has a history of assassinating leaders of Hamas and every time they have shown Israelis that Hamas as an idea will not die.
Since the establishment of Israel as a state in 1948, there have been Palestinians willing to turn to violent armed resistance, militancy, and terrorism - call it what you will.
The question for Israel if Sinwar has been killed is, "who next?" Who will be the leaders of the future to emerge from the ashes of this war?
Right now, the ground in Gaza is becoming even more fertile for those who might take an even harder, more extreme line than Yahya Sinwar.
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