Yahya Sinwar has been the No. 1 target for Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Photo: Reuters
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gazar war has been killed by Israeli forces in the Palestinian enclave, Israel said on Thursday.
His killing marks a huge success for Israel and a pivotal event in the year-long conflict. Western leaders said his death offered an opportunity for the war to end, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would go on.
The Israeli military said it had killed Sinwar in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
"After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated," it said.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas, but sources in the militant group said that indications from Gaza suggested Sinwar had been killed in an Israeli operation.
In Israel, families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza said they hoped for a ceasefire now to bring home the captives but also feared their loved ones were in a greater danger.
In Gaza, pounded relentlessly by Israeli forces for a year, residents said they believed the war would continue, but they clung to their hope of self-determination.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who spoke to Netanyahu by phone to congratulate him, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, said Sinwar's death provided a chance for the more than year-long conflict in Gaza to finally end and for Israeli hostages to be brought home.
"Now's the time to move on. Move on, move towards a ceasefire in Gaza, make sure that we are moving in a direction that we're going to be able to make things better for the whole world," Biden told reporters after landing in Germany. "It's time for this war to end and bring these hostages home. So that's what we're ready to do."
With Sinwar, whom U.S. officials say was the main stumbling block to talks, out of the way, Washington will "redouble" efforts to push forward a ceasefire proposal, the State Department said.
以色列稱哈馬斯領導人在加薩戰鬥中喪生
以色列週四表示，2023 年 10 月 7 日引發加薩戰爭的襲擊事件的策劃者、哈馬斯領導人葉海亞·辛瓦爾 (Yahya Sinwar) 已在巴勒斯坦飛地被以色列軍隊擊斃。
他的被殺標誌著以色列的巨大成功，也是長達一年的衝突中的關鍵事件。 西方領導人表示，他的死為結束戰爭提供了機會，但以色列總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡表示，戰爭將繼續下去。
以色列軍方表示，週三在加薩走廊南部的一次行動中殺死了辛瓦爾。
聲明中寫道：“在完成屍體辨認過程後，可以確認葉海亞·辛瓦爾已被消滅。”
哈馬斯沒有立即發表評論，但激進組織的消息人士稱，來自加薩的跡象表明辛瓦爾在以色列的一次行動中被殺。
在以色列，加薩哈馬斯被扣押的人質家屬表示，他們希望現在停火以將俘虜帶回家，但也擔心他們的親人面臨更大的危險。
在加沙，以色列軍隊對加薩進行了一年的無情攻擊，居民表示，他們相信戰爭會繼續下去，但他們仍然堅持自決的希望。
美國總統拜登透過電話向內塔尼亞胡以及法國總統馬克宏表示祝賀，他表示辛瓦爾的死為加薩長達一年多的衝突最終結束以及以色列人質被帶回家提供了機會。
「現在是繼續前進的時候了。繼續前進，朝著加薩停火的方向邁進，確保我們正朝著能夠讓全世界變得更好的方向前進，」拜登在著陸後對記者說在德國。 “是時候結束這場戰爭並將這些人質帶回家了。所以這就是我們準備做的事情。”
美國國務院表示，隨著美國官員稱辛瓦爾是談判的主要絆腳石，華盛頓將「加倍」努力推動停火提案。
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