Key developments as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar killed by Israel military

Sinwar, said to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks in Israel, was killed in Gaza, marking what many see as a turning point in the campaign against Hamas.

FILE PHOTO: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar looks on as Palestinian Hamas supporters take part in an anti-Israel rally over tension in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, in Gaza City October 1, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem/File Photo
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed this week. (Reuters)

The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has prompted renewed calls for both sides to broker a peace deal as the conflict in the Middle East took another significant turn.

Sinwar's death at the hands of an opportune drone attack follows months of searching by Israeli intelligence services but, unlike many of the recent assassinations of high-ranking militant leaders, this one was not a planned and targeted strike.

Instead, Sinwar was killed during a gun battle in southern Gaza by Israeli troops who were initially unaware that they had caught their country's number one enemy.

While the killing prompted US vice president Kamala Harris and others to call for an end to war, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Hezbollah militant group have both signalled that neither is prepared to let up in their military assaults.

Read a full breakdown of the key updates below or click to skip to each section

> Drone video shows Hamas leader’s final seconds

> Hezbollah announces ‘new phase of war’

> Netanyahu promises more war, dashing peace hopes

> Kamala Harris: Hamas leader’s death could end war

> Starmer says UK ‘will not mourn’ death of Sinwar

> Yahya Sinwar: ruthless operator who plotted Hamas 7 October attack

> Sinwar killing spurs Gaza hostage hopes and fears

The Israeli military released footage claiming to be off Sinwar's final moments.
The Israeli military released footage claiming to be off Sinwar's final moments.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in a gun battle by Israeli troops seemingly unaware they had caught one of the country's biggest foes.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said Sinwar, considered the mastermind of the 7 October attack just over a year ago, had been "eliminated" in southern Gaza on Wednesday.

The Israeli military also released drone footage which it said showed the final moments of the Hamas leader before he was killed.

Hezbollah has warned that it sees the conflict with Israel moving to a “new and escalating phase” following Israel's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Hezbollah, which has been launching missiles into Israel since last October in support of Hamas, responded on Friday by announcing "the transition to a new and escalating phase in the confrontation with Israel".

The statement from Hezbollah's operations room early on Friday said that Hezbollah's fighters have used new types of precision-guided missiles and explosive drones for the first time.

Foto de Archivo: El primer ministro de Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, se dirige a la 79ª Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas en la sede de la ONU en Nueva York, Estados Unidos. 27 de septiembre de 2024. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters)

Benjamin Netanyahu's promises to press on with Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon dashed hopes on Friday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar might help end more than a year of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Netanyahu called Sinwar's killing a milestone late on Thursday but vowed to keep up the war, which in recent weeks expanded from fighting against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza into an invasion of southern Lebanon and the bombardment of large swathes of the country.

"The war, my dear ones, is not yet over," Netanyahu told Israelis, saying fighting would continue until hostages held by Hamas are released.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at the Resch Expo Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 17, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP) (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. (Getty)

Kamala Harris has said the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could end the war in Gaza.

“This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza,” the US vice-president and Democratic presidential nominee said while campaigning in Wisconsin. She said the war must end “such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realise their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination”.

Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK “will not mourn” the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after Israel announced he had been killed by its military.

The PM condemned the mastermind of the October 7 attacks and said his thoughts were with the families of the victims of the incursion.

Starmer said: “As the leader of the terrorist group Hamas, Yahya Sinwar was the mastermind behind the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust, as 1,200 people were slaughtered in Israel. Today my thoughts are with the families of those victims. The UK will not mourn his death.

Hamas Gaza Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar (C) and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (L) take part in the funeral of senior militant Mazen Fuqaha in Gaza City March 25, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Sinwar (centre) pictured with the then Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (left) in 2017. (Reuters)

The killing on Thursday of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar spurred renewed calls for the release of scores of Israelis held hostage by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.

As world leaders urged Hamas to release the hostages, their families and supporters voiced optimism that the killing of the mastermind of the October 7 attacks could give fresh life to talks on the hostages' release.

Born in a refugee camp in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza, to parents who had been forced to flee their homes in what became Israel in 1948, Sinwar was drawn into Islamist activism as a teenager. Across the Middle East, a religious resurgence was gathering momentum.

As a science student at the Islamic University of Gaza in the early 1980s, Sinwar was drawn to Ahmed Yassin, a charismatic cleric who set up a local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.