(LONDON) Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.
The IDF initially said it was “checking the possibility” that the Hamas leader was among three killed in Gaza and were working to confirm identification through dental images and DNA testing.
The 62-year-old has served as Hamas’ leader in Gaza since 2017 and assumed leadership of the group’s Political Bureau after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran this July.
He has been credited as the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that led to the deaths of 1,200 people, the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history.
President Joe Biden had been briefed on Israel’s investigation into whether Israel killed Sinwar, according to a senior administration official.
The Israelis also notified U.S. Department of Defense officials, including Secretary Lloyd Austin, about Sinwar’s potential death, a U.S. defense official said per a pool report.
In 1989, an Israeli court sentenced Sinwar to four life sentences for his role in killing suspected Palestinian informers and plotting to murder two Israeli soldiers.
Sinwar spent the following 22 years in prison before becoming one of more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees released in 2011 in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for five years.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Guy Davies contributed to this report.
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