ISRAEL has dismantled its enemies one after the other since the October 7 massacre brought war to the Middle East.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) latest in a long line of kills may have claimed their most lucrative foe in Hamas kingpin Yahya Sinwar – proving once again that terrorists have nowhere to hide.
Sinwar, 62, is believed to have been killed in a gun battle with Israeli soldiers today in Rafah after three terrorists were taken out.
Israeli officials say there is a “high likelihood” of the October 7 mastermind being one of the men after soldiers noticed a corpse which looked near identical to Sinwar.
The IDF has vowed to destroy the Hamas leader ever since they first invaded Gaza over a year ago.
But Sinwar has always managed to escape from their clutches after a number of close calls and lucky escapes.
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If Israel can confirm the 62-year-old has been assassinated then it would mark the biggest scalp of the year-long conflict so far.
Sinwar has been the head of Hamas in Gaza since 2017 but was recently bumped up to chief after the suspected Israeli targeting of Ismail Haniyeh.
Haniyeh was one of the founding members of the terror group and had acted as the political face for decades.
He unflinchingly represented the bloodthirsty cult and even lived through his sons assassinations.
He was swiftly eliminated by specialist Israeli intelligence in Tehran on July 31 as he waited with a bodyguard inside an Iranian guesthouse.
Just days earlier, Israeli forces confirmed they had killed Mohammed Deif in a fierce hit on southern Gaza.
The 58-year-old terror kingpin had worked as head of Hamas’ ruthless military wing, the al-Qassam brigades, since 2002 but was caught in a massive explosion on July 13.
Both men, along with the ruthless Sinwar, were the sick brains behind the October 7 massacre which saw Hamas kill 1,200 Israelis and kidnap 250 more.
Hamas has faced daily attacks from Israel since the horror assault with thousands of fighters being wiped out across the war-torn region.
Sinwar’s loyal right hand man Rawhi Mushtaha was another senior individual targeted in a bunker blitz assassination back in July, according to Israel.
He was designated as a global terrorist by the US in 2015 for his strong links to the terror regime.
Leaving Sinwar as the last man standing for Hamas.
Inside the twisted life of Yahya Sinwar
By Nick Parker, Foreign Editor
HIS life was saved twice by Israel – but the monster dubbed “The Hamas Bin Laden” repaid his sworn enemy by masterminding the October 7 horror.
Yahya Sinwar, 61, spent 22 years in an Israeli prison for terrorist murder and kidnap plots and spent every second honing his burning hatred for his captors.
His astonishing rise to the top of the Hamas terror tree came despite being sentenced to four life sentences in 1989 for planning the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers and the murder of four Palestinians he suspected of working with Israel.
The bearded beast’s life was first saved when he was cured of cancer by an operation in a prison.
Then in 2011 he was freed, among 1,026 others, in a prisoner exchange for a single Israeli soldier in a deal that has been damned by his thousands of victims ever since.
Sinwar taught himself Hebrew and became fluent during his multiple stints as a caged man.
He began reading and studying every Israeli newspaper to probe the weak spots in his enemy’s armour.
The terror master’s deep knowledge of what makes Israelis tick led him to realise the power of the hostage-taking tactic now traumatising the strife-torn Jewish nation.
Bombshell documents previously revealed the chilling confessions of the warlord who, in his own words, described how he became a serial killer in Palestine as he rose through the terrorist ranks.
The secret documents from the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence service give detailed accounts of his killings – even reportedly showing where he had dumped and buried his victims’ bodies.
Yet despite his blood lust and bravado, the Hamas commander “cried like a baby” when he learned he had cancer, his jailer Lieutenant Betty Lahat has revealed.
DISMANTLING HEZBOLLAH
Israel has also ruthlessly eliminated Hezbollah’s chain of command one after the other over the past 12 months.
Hassan Hassan, an author and researcher on Islamic groups, has even claimed three layers of the Iranian proxy have been taken out in the past month.
The biggest blow to the terror group came after a pinpoint airstrike blitz targeted General-Secretary Hassan Nasrallah in an underground bunker in September.
Nasrallah, 64, was killed in the deadly missile barrage in Beirut, according to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
The fighter jet blitz also wiped out several other commanders and officials including Ali Karki, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front.
Muhammad Ali Ismail, the commander of Hezbollah’s missile unit in southern Lebanon, his deputy and “other senior officials” were also taken out.
The IDF appears to have been tactically hitting Hezbollah chiefs from the ground up in order to prevent them from building back up from a place of stability.
The man potentially poised to take over from Nasrallah was killed at the end of July.
Fuad Shukr, who Israel said was responsible for a deadly rocket attack on Golan Heights that killed 12 children, was assassinated by the IDF on July 30.
Hezbollah was again plunged into chaos after losing two kingpins and 14 commanders in a fierce strike just weeks before.
Ibrahim Aqil – a terror master on the US most wanted list for 40 years – was the biggest scalp claimed in the IDF blast on southern Beirut.
Hezbollah later confirmed Ahmed Wahabi, commander of its elite Radwan Force, had also been killed.
Senior officer Talal Hamiya and top commanders Taleb Abdullah and Muhammad Nasser were two of the earliest scalps for Israel.