At a press conference on Thursday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari showed a video that the IDF said showed the Hamas leader’s final moments. Yahya Sinuar.
The video shows a drone entering a damaged building, where a person – identified by the IDF as Sinwar – can be seen sitting in a chair. The figure’s body is positioned away from the drone, but appears to be looking at the unmanned craft. The person’s face is covered and they appear to be sitting alone.
Hagari claimed that Sinwar was shot in the arm. The edited drone video shows the figure holding what the IDF says is a piece of wood, which the person throws toward the drone.
Raw footage of Yahya Sinwar’s last moments: pic.twitter.com/GJGDlu7bie
– LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) October 17, 2024
According to new details released about Sinuar’s death, at 10:00 am. yesterday, a soldier from the 450th battalion of the Bislamach brigade noticed a suspicious figure going in and out of a building in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, The Times of Israel discovered. He informed the battalion commander, who ordered the forces to open fire on the building. At around 3pm, a drone spotted three figures leaving the building and trying to move from house to house. Two of the figures advanced, clearing the way for the third. The IDF opened fire again, wounding the terrorists. The two entered a building and the third – who would be Sinwar – entered a separate building alone. IDF tanks and other forces opened fire on both buildings, The Times of Israel has learned.
Sinuar then went up to the second floor. A tank fired another shell at the building and an infantry platoon moved in to search it. Sinwar threw two grenades, one of which exploded. The soldiers withdrew and a drone flew to investigate the room. He found a man with an injured arm and covered face – Sinwar – who threw a wooden stick at the drone. Another carriage shell fired at the man. This morning, soldiers searching the building looked at the face of the dead terrorist who spotted the drone and noticed that he looked like Sinwar. The Shin Bet collected DNA and fingerprints to verify his identity. No hostages were with Sinwar at that time.
Meanwhile, Jewish media has just broadcast a recording of one of the soldiers involved in Sinwar’s murder. He says the IDF hit the building where Sinuar was with a rocket and then sent a drone to confirm that he had been killed. At this point, he confirms, the soldiers did not know that the terrorist they were targeting was Sinwar. When the drone arrived at the demolished building, Sinuar with his face covered tried to throw an object to try to knock him down. At that point, more shots were aimed at Sinuar, killing him, the soldier says. It was only when soldiers personally arrived at the scene this morning that they realized that the terrorist they killed was Sinwar, this soldier confirms.
Yahya Sinwar: How the Israeli army killed the leader of Hamas
He was trying to escape to the North
Hamas leader Yahya Shinwar was trying to flee north when he was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza on Wednesday, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Haggari said at a news conference on Thursday.
“I think he was on the run, moving from an underground compound to houses trying to escape north to a safer compound,” Hagari said, adding that IDF troops continued to operate in the Tal al Sultan compound in Rafah, where he He ended up dead, without knowing at that moment that he was there.
“We continue to operate to verify that the terrorists cannot leave this area,” Hagari said.
Israeli forces found Sinwar with a vest, a gun and 40,000 shekels, the IDF spokesman said.
He went on to say that Sinwar’s DNA was found in tunnels a few hundred meters from where the six hostages were killed earlier this year.