Israel says to ‘verify’ whether Hamas chief Sinwar killed in Gaza

Israel accuses Sinwar of directing the attack, the deadliest in Israel’s history, and has been pursuing him since the start of the Gaza war.

He became the new leader of the Iran-backed militant group after the assassination of its former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in July.

Hamas and Iran blame Israel for Haniyeh’s murder, but Israel has not commented on the matter.

Israel’s announcement about Sinwar comes weeks after it killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a massive attack in Lebanon, where its military has been fighting a war since late September.

A number of other Iranian-backed militant commanders have also been killed in recent months.

With Hamas greatly weakened more than a year after the Gaza war, Sinwar’s death, if confirmed, would be a cataclysmic blow to the organization.

In a brief statement, the army said that during “operations in the Gaza Strip, three terrorists were eliminated.”

Israeli defense agencies “are checking the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar. At this time, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed,” the statement added.

– Hamas weakened, not crushed –

Israel has been at war with Hamas since the Oct. 7 attack, which killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an official Israeli count by AFP.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 42,438 people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.

After the attacks, which traumatized the nation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas and bring home the 251 hostages taken by the militants in their cross-border attack.

Since then, Israel has expanded the scope of its operations in Lebanon, where Hamas-allied Hezbollah opened a front against Israel by launching low-intensity cross-border attacks that forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee his house

Netanyahu has vowed to fight Hezbollah until victory, and Israel launched strikes on Thursday in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, where the militant group and its allies rule.

Israel also issued evacuation warnings for civilians in part of the eastern Lebanese Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold.

It had earlier hit a Hezbollah target in Syria, according to a war monitor, while Israel’s main ally, the United States, used heavy bombers to hit rebel targets in Yemen.

Syria, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza are all part of the “axis of resistance” of Iran-aligned groups, which launched a missile attack on Israel on October 1.

Israel has vowed to retaliate for Iran’s attack, raising concerns around the world that what is already a multi-front war could morph into an all-out regional conflict.

– Warning to Iran –

The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, warned on Thursday that Tehran would hit Israel “painfully” if it attacked Iranian targets.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the Israeli strike on the Syrian city of Latakia targeted a “weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah”.

The Israeli military did not comment on the strike when contacted by AFP.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years, including multiple recent strikes on the Lebanese border aimed at cutting off Hezbollah’s main arms and equipment supply route from Iran to Lebanon .

In the Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the United States carried out several strikes with B-2 bombers on weapons storage facilities, according to the US military and defense department.

The Houthis’ political office said “US aggression will not go unanswered” and vowed to continue the group’s “support and assistance in Gaza and Lebanon.”

– “Total Destruction” –

The war in Lebanon has left at least 1,373 people dead, according to an AFP count of Lebanese health ministry figures, although the real toll is likely higher.

Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters have clashed near Lebanon’s southern border, where Hezbollah said Thursday it hit four Israeli tanks with guided missiles.

Amal-affiliated rescue workers in the southern city of Qana were digging through the rubble of several buildings destroyed in an attack this week.

“More than 15 buildings have been completely destroyed, total destruction in a neighborhood of Qana,” said Mohammed Nasrallah Ibrahim, one of the rescuers.

Israel has faced criticism for its attacks on Lebanon, including from its main arms supplier, the United States.

The United Nations has also warned of an increasing number of attacks on Lebanese health facilities.

A new ambulance was destroyed by an Israeli strike in a southern village last week, volunteer rescue worker Bachir Nakhal told AFP.

“We did not expect the ambulances … to be directly attacked or bombed,” he said.

The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to transport weapons and fighters, without providing evidence.

– Famine in Gaza –

In Jabalia, in northern Gaza, where almost the entire population is displaced, two hospitals said Israeli airstrikes on a school housing displaced people killed at least 14 people.

The army reported that it had hit militants.

Some 345,000 Gazans face “catastrophic” levels of hunger this winter after aid deliveries fell, a UN-backed assessment said on Thursday, warning of the lingering risk of famine.

Nearly 100 percent of Gaza’s population now lives in poverty, with an “astounding” unemployment rate of nearly 80 percent, the UN’s International Labor Organization said Thursday.

The impact of the war in Gaza “will be felt for generations to come,” said the ILO’s Ruba Jaradat.