GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 377

Pushing Up Daisies

He’s Dead Jim Part Deux

In news that surprised probably even Prime Minister Netanyahu and definitely the international community, the Israel Defense Force announced that Hamas Chief and October 7th mastermind has been eliminated, neutralized, killed and whatever military or otherwise term you want to use. In some days I struggle to figure out what content to use for these updates, but today I am overwhelmed with information so I’ll use as many sources as I see fit. I start with a report from CBN.com:

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz has confirmed the long-sought after Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed during an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Katz said this:

“Terrorist mastermind Yahya Sinwar, responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7th, was eliminated today by IDF soldiers,” Katz said in a statement.

The news of Sinwar’s demise came out slowly mainly because they wanted to be certain:

Earlier on Thursday members of Israel's security cabinet had been informed that Hamas' top leader was "very likely" dead.

As we’ve reported, the leadership of both Hamas and Hezbollah were taken out recently now leave both terrorist organizations scrambling for replacements:

Sinwar was one of the chief architects of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. He was chosen as the group’s top leader in August following the assassination of Ismael Haniyeh in an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Yoav Gallant stated the obvious on X and used the Old Testament to boot:

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote in a post on X on Thursday: "We will reach every terrorist — and eliminate him."

He also quoted Leviticus 26:7-8 writing, " Chase the enemy, and they will fall upon your sword."

As we know now, the initial facial assessment by the IDF soldiers involved in the fight was confirmed later:

A senior Israeli official told NBC News that troops identified him as being among three militant killed after "heavy gun battle" in a Gaza enclave. They said the operation had not been aimed at killing Sinwar.

A DNA sample had been taken from the body for expedited testing in Israel.

According to a report in The Jerusalem Post, "Orthodontic experts who examined the jaw and teeth of a corpse found in Gaza compared them with X-rays of Yahya Sinwar, revealing a unique and matching dental structure."

Israel already had dental records, fingerprints, and DNA from Sinwar from the time he was their prisoner. The PM let the families of hostage members that no hostages were harmed:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed the IDF to inform the family members of remaining hostages that there were no signs of any harm to hostages during the recent incident, The Times of Israel reports.

Hamas has yet to confirm Sinwar's death.

They Weren’t Looking For Him

Interestingly enough, Sinwar wasn’t the target of the mission which occurred in Rafah as we read from about the details in an article in The Jerusalem Post:

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by the IDF in Tel Sultan in Rafah on Wednesday in an unplanned operation, sources close to the matter confirmed to The Jerusalem Post Thursday evening, several hours after rumors arose that he had been killed earlier Thursday.

Shortly after, around 7:45 p.m., confirmations came out from the IDF, Shin Bet, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, and others, that Sinwar was in fact dead.

The thought there terrorists in the building from the start, but killing Sinwar was a bonus:

IDF troops suspected there were Hamas terrorists in the building area which they eventually fired on. Afterward, they found Sinwar’s body inside. One of the terrorists targeted in the IDF strike in Gaza was Hamas's Khan Yunis division commander, who has been in close proximity to Sinwar since the start of the war.

Reports that Sinwar was traveling with hostages was heard everywhere, but none were with him when he died. The IDF think that after they discovered the dead bodies of six murdered hostages, Sinwar quit moving with them as human shields:

The IDF also believes that Sinwar stayed in the same tunnel complex a few hundred meters away from the six slain hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino, who were being held in Rafah. According to the IDF, after the hostages were executed in late August, he started to move without other hostages as human shields.

They were close many times before:

Sources have also leaked that an operation in Tel Sultan in August likely came close to having killed Sinwar and put the IDF on notice that they might have been close on his trail.

Here is a timeline of events that led to Sinwar being neutralized:

Wednesday 10am Bislach (Brigade) noticed suspicious figures going in and out of the structure. They fired on the structure. 3pm Drone notices three figures moving from house to house, including two checking the area in front of the third. They continued to fire on them and wounded some of them. Two went into one structure and the third, (later learned this was Sinwar), went into the other structure. Sinwar went up to second floor of structure. An IDF tank fired on the structure. They then used drones to review the status of the figure they had fired on. His face was covered. He tried to attack the drone. The IDF tank fired again on Sinwar. Then the IDF waited for facial, dental, fingerprints, and DNA checks.

We know that they confirmed his assassination was a success. What they found on him should wake some people up to how complicit some were in his plans and survival:

N12's Amit Segal revealed what was found on Sinwar's body: Mentos, money, an AK-47, a lighter, and a UNRWA employee ID.

Yes, a UN employee card. I’ll let that sink in for a few seconds.

They Settled A Score

We learn from the rest of the article that this time was a year coming, but like the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah Israel had Sinwar in their sights since October 7th of last year:

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi responded to the assassination saying, "We have settled the score with Sinwar who was responsible for the very hard day which we had a year ago."

We get more details on just how close the IDF was to getting their guy:

Standing next to Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar and IDF Southern Command Chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkleman, Halevi went on to note that the IDF had undertaken a huge number of operations against Sinwar which had led to this moment.

Although the final operation which killed Sinwar happened without pre-existing intelligence, Halevi said that the entire situation was created by the continued determination of the military to keep carrying out operations to locate Hamas throughout Gaza in general, and in Rafah in particular.

The Israel Defense Minister issued a statement and an offer to those who are still holding hostages:

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, "Sinwar concluded his life defeated, chased, fleeing, and not as the commander, but as someone who only worried about himself."

Gallant continued, "This is a clear message for the families of those fallen and the hostages, but also for the people of Gaza, the end of this man who brought this disaster upon you has come, this is the moment to release the hostage and to surrender."

Some reports had Sinwar dressing up like a woman so he could come out of the tunnels from time to time. Ultimately he couldn’t escape the relentless searching of the IDF and had nowhere else to run. The questions now are does this end the war in Gaza and where are the hostages? I always thought that taking out Sinwar would effectively end the war. And I felt that if they found Sinwar they would find the remaining hostages. Apparently finding the hostages thought to be human shields around the terrorist leader wasn’t correct.

A Severe Blow

I would be remiss if I didn’t report on how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the news of Sinwar being killed as we are told in a report from the Jewish News Syndicate:

“Evil has suffered a severe blow,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday night following the confirmation of Hamas terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar’s death in a southern Gaza shootout.

“The man who committed the most terrible massacre in the history of our people since the Holocaust, the mass murderer who murdered thousands of Israelis and kidnapped hundreds of our citizens, was eliminated today by our heroic troops,” the prime minister said.

He then framed today’s events like this and then also issued an offer to those who hold the hostages:

Netanyahu noted in his taped video statement on Thursday evening that “one year ago, we celebrated Sukkot. At that exact time, Yahya Sinwar was engaged in the final preparations for the Oct. 7 massacre.

“To the dear families of the hostages, I say: This is an important moment in the war. We will continue with all our strength until all your loved ones—who are our loved ones—return home,” the premier continued.

Netanyahu called on “everyone who holds our hostages” in the Strip to lay down their weapons and hand over the captives, promising that the Israeli military will allow terrorists who surrender to “leave and live.”

The PM then sent a veiled message to those who wanted Israel to end the fighting earlier and not enter Rafah:

“Now it is clear to everyone, in Israel and throughout the world, why we insisted on not ending the war,” the longtime Israeli leader continued. “Why we insisted, despite all the pressure, to enter Rafah, the fortified stronghold of Hamas where Sinwar and many of the murderers hid.”

Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also called for the release of the hostages and for the terrorists to surrender:

Addressing Palestinian terrorists, he continued: “It is time to go out, release the hostages, raise your hands, surrender. Go out with the hostages, free them, and surrender,” Gallant concluded.

We also hear from the IDF Chief of Staff as he commended the men who carried out the mission:

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi issued a statement on Thursday night after he met with the soldiers who killed Sinwar.

“The troops acted correctly, with professionalism and determination—not because they knew Sinwar was there, but because our soldiers excel in every encounter with terrorists, in all sectors,” Halevi said.

He then reminded the world that they kept their word on hunting down Sinwar:

“The boldness, determination and bravery of IDF troops operating in all arenas led us to him and brought about his end. We said we would get to him, and indeed, we got to him,” the general continued.

Halevi reminded the rest of the terrorists who are still living that their time is coming:

“We will not stop until we capture all the terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre and bring all the hostages home,” he said.

The Israeli president focused on getting the hostages back:

Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog likewise stressed that “we must act in every way possible to bring back the 101 hostages who are still being held in horrific conditions by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Herzog then thanked those who brought justice to Sinwar and also reminded anyone who will listen just evil this man was:

“I commend the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet and the security services for eliminating the arch-terrorist Yahya Sinwar,” the head of state said on social media. “Sinwar, the mastermind behind the deadly October 7th attack, has for years been responsible for heinous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians, citizens of other countries, and the murder of thousands of innocent people. His evil endeavors were dedicated to terror, bloodshed and destabilizing the Middle East.”

There is a little more peace in Jerusalem now that Sinwar is pushing up daisies, but more peace is needed.