Israel kills Hamas leader “Yahya Sinwar” in Gaza strike

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed by Israeli troops, according to Israel. Sinwar was the mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war. His killing is a huge success for Israel and a pivotal event in the year-long conflict.

There are a number of possible scenarios for what happens next but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war will go on.

The Israeli military said it had killed Sinwar in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip.

Sinwar was named as Hamas' overall leader following the assassination of political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

His death could dial up hostilities in the Middle East where the prospect of an even wider conflict has grown.

Israel has launched a ground campaign in Lebanon over the past month and is now planning a response to an Oct. 1 missile attack carried out by Iran, ally of Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Hezbollah vowed to escalate its war against Israel after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

He was the mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war.

And he was named Hamas' overall leader after the killing of political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

The Israeli military released drone video of what it said was Sinwar, sitting on an armchair and covered in dust inside a destroyed building.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after Sinwar's death this was "the beginning of the end" of the war in Gaza.

"To the people of Gaza I have a simple message: This war can end tomorrow. It can end if Hamas lays down its arms and returns our hostages," He added.

The death of the man who planned the attack last year in which fighters killed 1,200 people in Israel and captured more than 250 hostages could also help push forward stalled efforts to end the war he triggered, which has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians.