Israel probing whether Hamas leader and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar has been killed: reports

The Israeli military is investigating whether Hamas chief and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar may have been killed in a recent airstrike on Gaza, according to multiple reports.

Some media claim Sinwar may have been killed or wounded in one of the most recent bombings in an unspecified part of the Gaza Strip, nearly a year since the terror chief green-lit the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that sparked the war.

Officials with the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet and Israel Defense Forces said there is no new evidence to suggest that Sinwar is dead but that they are continuing to investigate the possibility.

Questions have swirled about Sinwar’s fate because the Hamas chief supposedly went radio-silent during continued airstrikes in Gaza, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid.

“It is all hopes and guesses, which are based on the fact the Sinwar has been incommunicado in recent weeks,” an Israeli official told the reporter regarding the speculation.

But Sinwar, who has eluded the IDF since the terror attack more than 11 months ago, has gone quiet in the past, a tactic that spurred previous false reports of his death.

During the Israeli military’s advancements across southern Gaza in December, numerous reports emerged claiming that Sinwar was wounded or killed in an airstrike.

Sinwar was last spotted disappearing with his family inside Hamas’ vast underground tunnel network days after the terror attack, which killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 others kidnapped.

The latest reports on Sinwar’s possible death came as Hamas allegedly rejected another hostage deal proposed by the US, with the terror leader demanding talks return to the original deal put forth by President Biden in May, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

Sinwar, who previously oversaw the terror group’s Gaza region, succeeded Ismail Haniyeh in Hamas’ top post in August after Haniyeh was killed in a suspected Israeli bombing in Tehran.