Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed, Israeli foreign minister says

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israel’s military forces.

“The elimination of Sinwar creates an opportunity for the immediate release of the hostages and a potential change that could lead to a new reality in Gaza—without Hamas and without Iranian control,” he said in a statement, according to NBC reporting.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli Defense Forces said it was investigating the “possibility” that Sinwar was among three militants killed in an operation in the Gaza Strip, whose identities it could not confirm at the time.

“The forces that are operating in the area are continuing to operate with the required caution,” it added in a social media post. CNBC could not independently verify the report.

In a social media update posted after the IDF communication, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant quoted a biblical citation, “You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword. – Leviticus 26,” according to a NBC translation.

He added, “Our enemies cannot hide. We will pursue and eliminate them.”

National Security spokesman John Kirby said Washington was aware of reports Sinwar may be dead, but that the U.S. officials had not independently verified them, according to NBC News. As the news broke, U.S. President Joe Biden was en route to Germany to meet with allied countries for talks on Ukraine and the Middle East.

Previously leader of Hamas in the Gaza strip, Sinwar assumed overall command of the Iran-backed organization in August, following the assassination of former political chief Ismail Haniyeh. His death marks the most dire blow Israel has dealt Hamas in the year-long conflict sparked by the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7 terror attacks in the Jewish state, which Israel has accused Sinwar of orchestrating.

The offensive propelled the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a retaliatory operation in the Gaza Strip in a bid to dismantle the military capabilities and leadership of the Palestinian group.

More than 42,000 Palestinian people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, according to the local Health Ministry, while 101 people abducted from Israel are believed to remain hostages of Hamas in the enclave. The Hostages Families Forum, representing families of the captives, welcomed the Thursday news on social media, but urged the Israeli government to use this opportunity as leverage to secure the return of hostages.

The war in the Gaza Strip has expanded to include direct hostilities between Israel and Iran, along with clashes between the Jewish state and other Tehran-backed factions, such as Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanese group Hezbollah — whose leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last month by Israeli forces in an air attack in Beirut.

Markets have been mired in the Middle East conflict, which now poses substantial risks to oil supplies, if Israel answers the latest Iranian hostilities with strikes targeting Tehran’s energy infrastructure and export facilities.

Houthi maritime attacks against ships it claims are linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. — which have also been carried out against unaffiliated vessels — have meanwhile disrupted a key commercial route in the Red Sea that links Asia-Pacific and the Mediterranean.