Israel’s foreign minister has confirmed that Israeli troops in Gaza have killed Hamas’s top leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war.
Mr Sinwar has topped Israel’s most wanted list since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war just over a year ago, and his killing strikes a powerful blow to the militant group.
There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas of his death.
Smoke from Israeli bombardment rises from the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)
Foreign minister Israel Katz called Mr Sinwar’s killing a “military and moral achievement for the Israeli army”.
“The assassination of Sinwar will create the possibility to immediately release the hostages and to bring a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza – without Hamas and without Iranian control,” he said in a statement.