The IDF released previously unseen footage of the moments that resulted in Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar’s death, on Friday, two years after the assassination took place.
Combat teams from the Nachal and 828th Brigades, respectively, were conducting operations in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah based on intelligence indicating potential high-value Hamas targets in the area, when they spotted terrorists leaving a building.
A firefight ensued; the terrorists scattered, and unbeknownst to the soldiers at the time, Sinwar remained alone, abandoned in a building.
He was killed in a firefight shortly thereafter.
The death of Yahya Sinwar on October 16, 2024, marked a turning point in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. His death created a void in the organization’s leadership, coordination, and cohesion and represented the culmination of Israel’s effort to deliver justice to the architect of the October 7 massacre.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar being spotted by IDF troops, before being struck by a tank shell, published October 16, 2026. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)Detailing the combat encounter
Several weeks before Sinwar was killed, the IDF’s Gaza Division assumed responsibility for the Rafah sector of the Gaza Strip.
On the day of the engagement in which Sinwar was killed, lookouts spotted three armed terrorists moving through a damaged, IDF-controlled area roughly 300 meters from an ongoing engineering operation, the military said on Friday.
Two of the terror operatives carried a blanket, and the third wore a tactical vest, the military added.
A battalion commander spotted them, opened fire, and wounded one in the arm. This wounded operative was later confirmed to be Sinwar.
Soldiers encircled the area using tanks and drones. One soldier was severely wounded and evacuated during a firefight.
Sinwar, wounded from the aforementioned shooting, fled, entering a separate building from the other two terror operatives.
Recording of communications between fighters of the 828th Brigade during the operation that resulted in Yahya Sinwar’s death, published October 16, 2026. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
An IDF Paratrooper Brigade company entered to search the building that Sinwar had entered. A platoon commander noticed a pool of blood, indicating a wounded terrorist nearby. Moments afterward, two grenades were thrown at the soldiers, one of which detonated, the military said.
Soldiers applied heavy fire on the structure, including tank shells, machine gun fire, and small arms fire. That evening, an IDF drone entered the structure and located the remains of a body. Soldiers waited until the next morning to complete searches due to operational risks, the military noted.
When search teams entered the structure, they were able to positively identify Sinwar and confirm his death.