Israel "Remove Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar"

Israel has officially announced the removal of Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Palestinian militant faction Hamas.

Israeli Foreign Minister Katz said in a statement on the 17th local time that "Sinwar, responsible for the massacre and atrocities on October 7 last year, was killed by Israeli forces."

"This is a great military and moral achievement by Israel and a victory for the entire free world against the evil axis of Islam led by Iran," he said.

The Israeli military also confirmed that it had removed Sinwar from the operation in southern Gaza, which took place on the 16th local time.

Earlier, the Israeli military said that "three terrorists were killed while operating in Gaza," and that it was confirming that one of them could be Sinwar.

Sinwar was the architect and mastermind of Hamas' raid on Israel on October 7 last year, and took over after the assassination of Ismail Haniye, the top political leader of Hamas, in Tehran, Iran, in July.