Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar confirmed dead by Israel

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Sinwar attends a rally in support of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque in Gaza City in October 2022. /Mahmud Hams/AFP

Israel says it has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Foreign minister Israel Katz confirmed that the body of a man killed in Gaza belonged to Sinwar, who had been his country's number one target as it responded to the October 7, 2023 attacks.

Sinwar was seen as the mastermind of the killing of almost 1,200 Israelis and was the last surviving senior Hamas figure in Gaza.

Sinwar gestures during an anti-Israel rally in Gaza City in May 2021. /Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Israel's campaign in response has killed more than 42,000 people, as they sought to destroy Hamas' network of tunnels and free hundreds of hostages.

Hamas has not responded to the Israeli claims.

Previously leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Sinwar was named as its overall leader following the assassination of former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

It remains unclear who would succeed Sinwar to lead the small groups of militants who still fight on amid the rubble of Gaza nor what his death might mean for the hostages who remain in captivity.