Israel Eliminates the ‘Butcher of Khan Younis’

Israeli Police and Israel Defense Force (IDF) forensic teams spent the first day of the Jewish High Holiday of Sukkot on Thursday, October 17, working to determine if the body of one of the three terrorists killed the previous day in Gaza belonged to the top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. 

“At this time, the identity of the terrorist cannot be confirmed,” the IDF stated Thursday afternoon amid mounting anticipation. But by early evening, reports confirmed that Sinwar had in fact been eliminated.

Sinwar had been the military commander and political leader of the Hamas chapter in Gaza until early August when he was announced as the new leader of Hamas — which also operates in the West Bank and minimally in Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey — following the Israeli air strike that killed former leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. 

The incident leading to Sinwar’s death began on Wednesday, October 16, when IDF troops from the 828th Bislamach Brigade, operating in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, observed three Hamas officials entering a building.

The Brigade was soon met with resistance and a fire fight broke out with Hamas combatants on the ground floor. After confirming that no hostages were kept in the vicinity, the troops called for an artillery strike that collapsed part of the building. While inspecting the rubble, the soldiers noticed that one of the bodies — with a hole in the head due to collapsed concrete — looked strikingly similar to Sinwar. 

The body of the suspect was not moved from the demolition site for several hours due to a high threat of booby-traps in the area and the fact that the military vest on the body contained several grenades which could have been rigged. Part of a finger, however, was removed to expedite identity testing. Large caches of money and hi-tech communication devices were also found next to the body. 

Despite rumors spreading like wildfire and headlines over the holiday that rushed to proclaim Sinwar’s death, the IDF maintained that a full forensic investigation must be conducted before conclusions are made. The body was extracted and brought to Israel late on Thursday and the IDF and police set to work determining whether or not the DNA, dental samples, and fingerprints from the cadaver belonged to Sinwar, a process that can take up to several hours. Israel possesses samples of Sinwar’s DNA, fingerprints, and dental records from the time the terrorist leader had spent much of his adult life in Israeli prisons.

Over the course of the war, Sinwar had been among the most wanted terrorists for his mastermind planning of the October 7 attack. Earlier this year, in February, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari released footage of Sinwar walking through the Gaza tunnels and stated: “The hunt for Sinwar will not stop until we catch him, dead or alive.”

The terrorist leader managed to evade detection for an entire year, with many intelligence officials suspecting him to be hiding amongst Israeli hostages as human shields deep within the tunnels of Gaza. Upon hearing the news on Thursday afternoon, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tweeted on X a quote from Leviticus 26: “You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword.” 

Although the IDF was not intentionally pursuing any leads on Sinwar when they engaged in Rafah on Wednesday —they did not know he was one of the officials entering the building — his confirmed elimination is something of a crown jewel in the long roster of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders assassinated in recent months by the IDF’s intelligence-informed precision strikes. 

Born in 1962 in the Gaza city of Khan Younis, Sinwar joined Hamas soon after Sheikh Ahmed Yassin founded the terrorist group in 1987. He oversaw the terrorist group’s internal security and intelligence within Gaza and implemented ruthless means of torture or death to anyone accused of collaborating with Israel, earning him the moniker “butcher of Khan Younis.”

Sinwar Spent Years in Israel

Ironically, he became fluent in Hebrew during his 23 years in Israeli prison where he served four life-terms for killing Israeli soldiers and Palestinian collaborators. While incarcerated, Sinwar underwent life-saving brain surgery by Israeli doctors after an Israeli dentist discovered a brain tumor. He was then released in 2011, along with 1,027 other security prisoners, in exchange for the kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.   

When the IDF acted alone to take out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his underground bunker in Beirut on September 27, US officials in Washington responded with frustration for not being informed until the mission was well underway. This time, Defense Minister Gallant promptly informed his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, of the likelihood of Sinwar’s death as the body was being investigated. 

Although the U.S. has maintained unyielding military and political support for Israel over the past 12 months, the war has no doubt strained U.S.-Israel relations. Earlier this week, Israel received the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery from the U.S. — an advanced interception system to help deter and repel ballistic missile attacks from Iran as seen on April 14 and October 1.

Yet, at the same time, the Biden White House is pressuring Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu to scale down IDF military campaigns in Gaza, where over 100 Israeli hostages are still missing, and to restrain from bombing Hezbollah arsenals in Beirut. Recently, the White House has rubbed shoulders with Jerusalem over insufficient aid to Gazan civilians as increased Israel vetting security delays or restricts aid trucks from Jordan on suspicion of arms smuggling. 

In any given week it seems hard to pin down what exactly the current White House’s clear objectives are in the Middle East. On the other hand, Israel’s committed, intelligence-informed, precise, and timely targeting of top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders presents a clear statement of strength and deliberate retaliation for perpetrations against the Jewish state. Many of these targets also come with hefty U.S. bounties on their heads for killing U.S. servicemembers. Sinwar’s elimination is a significant blow to the Hamas leadership and another Israeli facilitated act of rightly deserved justice. 

READ MORE from Bennett Tucker:

Israel Fends Off Massive Iranian Missile Barrage

Nasrallah’s Death: Israel Takes Step Toward Victory

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