Israel Defense Forces confirmed the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a patrol operation in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar had been on the run since carrying out the October attacks and was finally traced by IDF during a routine patrol at the Tal al-Sultan area in Rafah. As his body would later be identified during a scan of corpses of victims from a clash with militants, IDF soldiers realized Sinwar was one of them-only with further tests to confirm their discovery.
Driven by drone footage by IDF showing Sinwar in a damaged building, looking injured, and tossing some object at the drone just before his death, killing brings an important victory to Israel but does not bring near to the end of the conflict in Gaza.
Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emphasized the military operations will continue, especially to try and free over 100 hostages still being held by Hamas.