Video footage released by the Israel Defense Forces shows tank fire targeting a building where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been barricaded, authorities said on Friday.
Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, was inside a building in Gaza when a tank opened fire, the IDF said. He was killed Thursday by Israeli forces.
Israel vowed to kill the terror leader after the attack that he masterminded killed 1,200 people in Israeli communities, and several hundred others were taken hostage by Hamas terrorist fighters.
"Yahya Sinwar planned and executed the October 7th Massacre, promoted his murderous ideology both before and during the war, and was responsible for the murder and abduction of many Israelis," the IDF and Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency said in a joint statement on Thursday. "Yahya Sinwar was eliminated after hiding for the past year behind the civilian population of Gaza, both above and below ground in Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip."
Sinwar, referred to by Israel as the Butcher of Khan Younis for his violent and cruel torture methods against his enemies, both Israeli and Palestinian, was widely seen as being behind the massacre of Israeli civilians carried out by thousands of Hamas militants on Oct. 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, following the confirmation of Sinwar's death, that Hamas has suffered a "heavy blow," but he promised that the war in Gaza is not yet over.
HAMAS NAMES YAHYA SINWAR, MASTERMIND OF OCT. 7 ATTACKS, AS ITS NEW LEADER
He added that "Hamas will no longer rule Gaza," and "this is the beginning of the day after Hamas, and this is an opportunity for you, the residents of Gaza, to finally break free from its tyranny."
In addition to Sinwar, other top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah have been targeted for death by Israel over repeated attacks on the Jewish state.
On Friday, the IDF said that 1,5000 Hezbollah terrorist fighters have been eliminated since Israel began targeting the Iran-backed group in southern Lebanon after enduring a year of airstrikes.
"We estimate that we are in the region of 1,500 Hezbollah operatives killed, and we put our estimates in the conservative areas," said IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Herzi Halevi. "I guess there are more and we don't know, in a lot of attacks."
