Hamas's Yahya Sinwar hid with hostages before a drone found him

Nearly two months before the Israeli military accidentally located the Hamas leader using a drone and then killed him, Yahya Sinwar was hiding in southern Gaza with six Israeli hostages – one of whom was an American citizen.

The hostages' bodies were recovered by the Israeli military in late August after they were executed by their captors. An accident almost occurred during a rescue operation by the Israeli Defense Forces. It sparked a wave of protests and widespread rebuke of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The revelation, first reported by Israel's Channel 12 this week and confirmed to USA TODAY on Friday by a person familiar with the matter, comes amid intense speculation about who might succeed Sinwar as Hamas leader. And ultimately, what impact his death will have on the pace and intensity of the war in Gaza: whether it will accelerate efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage-taking agreement after more than a year of fighting or worsen the conflict across the region.

Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas' Qatar-based political wing, said in a statement on Friday that Sinwar's death did not mean the end of the organization and that the group “cannot be eliminated.” Hamas's Lebanon-based ally Hezbollah vowed to step up its fight with Israel after Sinwar's death, and Iran, which supports both groups with funding and weapons, said Sinwar's death would strengthen the regional “resistance” against Israel.

Sinwar, 61, is widely considered the chief planner and organizer of Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. He was killed by the Israeli military on Thursday during what appeared to be a routine search for Hamas members in a building in Rafah under fire by Israeli forces. In other words, Sinwar was discovered.

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Sinwar's body was identified using DNA, dental and fingerprint records obtained by Israel decades earlier when he spent years in an Israeli prison for killing IDF soldiers and suspected Palestinian collaborators with Israel.

Drone footage released by the IDF on Thursday appeared to show Sinwar's final moments before his death. The footage shows a drone entering a building with blown out windows. Everything is covered with dust. The drone flies close to a man sitting on a chair. His face is covered. After a few seconds, the man picks up what looks like a stick or piece of debris and throws it at the drone. A short time later, the IDF shelled the building.

Sinwar was later identified as the man in the video, although Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Sinwar was only identified as a Hamas fighter and not the group's leader when he was killed by the grenade. He said Sinwar was found wearing a bulletproof vest and in possession of grenades and about $11,000 in cash.

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 were kidnapped back to Gaza in Hamas attacks on Israel last year. Israel believes that there are still around 101 hostages alive or dead in the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials stressed Thursday that no one was found with Sinwar in the building where he died along with two of his bodyguards.

But the shelling that killed him took place in the same area of Rafah where the six hostages were killed in August, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. This has led to speculation about whether Sinwar may have been forced to hide above ground since late August after escaping the tunnel complex where the six hostages were being held.

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The person familiar with the matter said it was likely, although not yet fully confirmed, that Sinwar gave a direct order to kill the hostages as he fled a tunnel in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip used by the IDF and Shin Bet , the Israeli intelligence agency, security service.

The bodies of Israeli-Americans Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Almog Sarusi, 26, Alex Lobanov, 32, and Carmel Gat, 40, were found in a narrow, 400-foot Long grave found in Rafah tunnel on August 31st. Israel believes they were likely executed by their Hamas captors two days earlier as the IDF approached their location. The IDF recovered Sinwar's DNA in the tunnel complex where the bodies of the slain hostages were found.

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Gil Dickmann, Gat's cousin, said in a news conference Thursday that his family felt “justice had been done” by eliminating Sinwar.

“People ask us if we are happy. Our happiness cannot be complete until all the hostages are here in Israel. What we celebrate is not the elimination of our enemies. That's not enough for us. We celebrate life, and we will celebrate when.” The hostages return home.

More than 42,000 Palestinians were killed by Israel in Gaza last year, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Since the start of the war, Israel has been under enormous pressure from the United States and the international community due to the high civilian death toll and the fact that it has not allowed further humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said Sinwar's death does not mean the war in Gaza is over, although the Biden administration has used his killing as an opportunity to revive and advance talks between Israel and Hamas on a long-discussed temporary ceasefire to bring an end of the war in the Middle East.

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There is currently little evidence that such talks are imminent.

It is also difficult to accurately assess Hamas's future development.

Kobi Michael, former head of the Palestinian department at Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs and now a senior research fellow at the Israel Institute for National Strategic Studies, said Hamas has “several options” when it comes to Sinwar's replacement.

The “most natural,” he said, may be Sinwar’s brother Mohammed, leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing.

Michael said Mohammed Sinwar did not have “the charisma or the ideological, historical and religious perspective that his brother had, but he had a lot of experience,” including in the kidnapping and kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006. Mohammed Sinwar supervised also the construction of Hamas' tunnel infrastructure in Gaza.

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Michael said that after a year of fighting, Hamas had only “marginal military capabilities.” He estimated that Hamas probably has between 10,000 and 15,000 fighters, down from about 40,000 fighters a year ago. He said Hamas had been able to attract new recruits, but they were young, poorly trained and inexperienced.

Many are teenagers.

“Hamas is now left with a guerrilla and terrorist war against the IDF in Gaza,” said Michael.

“But their success is very limited. From time to time they fire a rocket or two, but Hamas is militarily at the end of its path. This does not mean that Israel will reach every single terrorist or RPG in Gaza,” he said. Using an acronym for a rocket propelled grenade.

Michael added: “It means that Hamas will not be able to effectively control Gaza. Not from a government perspective. Not from a military perspective. “Not from the perspective that it could create such a security threat.” possible on October 7th.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

Hamas's Yahya Sinwar hid with hostages before a drone found him

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