Yahya Sinwar killed
He was not on the list.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza 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 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.
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