The Israeli military has concluded its forces killed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, during operations in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 16.

The Israeli military announced its conclusions in an Oct. 17 press statement, following a DNA confirmation process.

Hamas did not immediately confirm Sinwar’s death.

The Israeli announcement comes as Israeli forces have been fighting in the Gaza Strip for more than a year, in an effort to eliminate Hamas as a political and militant presence within the territory. The Israeli military operations began after Hamas gunmen stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, carrying out a coordinate attack and taking around 250 people back to the Gaza Strip as captives.

Sinwar, 61, has been the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip since 2017. Israeli officials believe he played a key role in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Sinwar also served as the chairman of the Hamas political bureau since August, after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an explosion while visiting Iran. Israel did not claim responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, but both Hamas and the Iranian government concluded they were behind the blast.

Even before the Israeli military announced his death, unconfirmed photos began to circulate online of a man bearing Sinwar’s resemblance, buried under a pile of rubble.

“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. The dozens of operations carried out by the [Israel Defense Forces] and the [Israel Securities Authority] over the last year, and in recent weeks in the area where he was eliminated, restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational movement as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination,” the Israeli military said Thursday.

This article was originally published by FreeBase News and is reprinted with permission.