Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas and the architect of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on the country, was killed on Thursday during an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

"Eliminated: Yahya Sinwar," the IDF posted on X shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday, after NewsNation reported his death in the morning.

Sinwar was Israel’s top target in Gaza, but survived in Hamas’s underground tunnel network for more than a year as the war of his making raged above.

A messianic psychopath is how one U.S. official described Sinwar. Among Hamas leadership, he was viewed as “a nasty guy,” said one analyst. As an enforcer in the 1980s, he earned the moniker “Butcher of Khan Yunis.”

Sinwar viewed tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in a war with Israel “as necessary sacrifices” to achieve his goal of destroying the Jewish State. That appeared to be the inspiration for Hamas launching the attack against Israel on Oct. 7; committing a massacre of such brutality it would trigger a massive Israeli response.

“For Netanyahu, a victory would be even worse than a defeat,” Sinwar........

© The Hill