Israeli officials have claimed to Hebrew-language media that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by the Israeli military in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The claim has not been confirmed by Hamas, which warned against “fake news” and said it would only put out official statements via its Telegram channel or website.
The Israeli military and police released a joint statement that said they were still trying to identify the body they believe in Sinwar. “Dental photographs were sent to the police’s medical laboratory for examination and now DNA tests are being carried out. When they are finished, it will be possible to confirm his elimination,” they said.
The Israeli military said earlier that there was a high probability Sinwar was killed as part of an operation in Rafah that killed three people who were in a building above ground.
Sinwar is Hamas’s leader in Gaza and also became the political chief after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed by an Israeli assassination in the Iranian capital of Tehran on July 31.