DEEP DIVE — More than a year after Israeli leaders unleashed a punishing war to destroy Hamas, the end for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar came in what Israeli officials called “an unplanned operation,” a firefight that military commanders had no idea involved their number one target. As one U.S. official told CNN, “The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is more surprised by this than we are.”
The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday that Sinwar, widely believed to have been the architect of the raids and massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel last October, had been “eliminated” during an exchange between Israeli and Hamas forces in the southern Gaza Strip. The IDF said it had used DNA testing and dental records in Israel to confirm Sinwar’s identity – a reminder that the Hamas leader had been held in Israeli jails before a 2011 prisoner exchange.
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