Israeli forces may have killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar
According to a breaking news line by Reuters, an Israeli military spokesperson said that there is a possibility that Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, has been “eliminated”. Reuters adds that the Israeli military are checking this.
We will update with more information as it comes in.
Key events
AP have reported more details on reports that Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar has been killed in a military operation in Gaza (see 13.53 BST).
The military said in a statement on Thursday that three militants were killed during operations in Gaza, without elaborating. It said the identities of the three were so far not confirmed, but it was “checking the possibility” that one of the three was Sinwar.
It said there were no signs that Israeli hostages had been present in the building where the three militants were killed.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas. There has been an update on our earlier post (see 13.33 BST).
Threats made to buildings in downtown Beirut, including to the offices of Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV and the Norwegian embassy, are deemed to have been fake, a Lebanese security source and a diplomatic source told Reuters
Further to the news that the Israeli military said there is a possibility it had “eliminated” the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, Reuters reports that the military have also said that “at this stage, the identity cannot be confirmed”.
For background, Sinwar is a prime target for Israel. My colleague, Julian Borger, has written about Sinwar and Israel’s hunt for the Hamas leader previously:
According to a breaking news line by Reuters, an Israeli military spokesperson said that there is a possibility that Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, has been “eliminated”. Reuters adds that the Israeli military are checking this.
We will update with more information as it comes in.
Hamas denied using Abu Hussein school in Jabalia for fighting purposes, after Israeli military said it targeted militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, reports Reuters.
The Israeli military earlier said dozens of militants were operating from within the school that had been serving as a shelter for displaced people (see 1.09pm BST).
William Christou
Al Jazeera staff evacuated their offices in downtown Beirut on Thursday afternoon after receiving messages warning them to leave the building, similar to past evacuation warnings from Israel that preceded bombings, the network reported. Two embassies, one of which is the Norwegian embassy, is also housed in the same building were also evacuated.
Al Jazeera’s office is located in the heart of downtown Beirut, a kilometer from the iconic Blue Mosque and Martyr’s Square where displaced people are residing.
People in Lebanon have been receiving messages and calls warning them to evacuate prior to Israeli bombing over the last month, since Israel started its Operation Northern Arrows on 23 September. Some of these messages have turned out to be false alarms, causing mass panic and leading to arrests of perpetrators by Lebanese security forces.
William Christou is a Beirut-based journalist writing on Lebanon for the Guardian.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said on Thursday that the Israeli army was not fully in control of any south Lebanon village, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Until now, the enemy has been unable to take full control of any village,” Fadlallah told a press conference at Lebanon’s parliament, adding that Israel was applying “a scorched earth policy through the systematic destruction of villages … seeking to impose a buffer zone with no people, buildings, fields or trees”.
About 345,000 Palestinians face “catastrophic” levels of hunger this winter after aid deliveries fell, a UN-backed assessment said on Thursday, warning of the persistent risk of famine across the Palestinian territory.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that this is up from the 133,000 people currently categorised as experiencing “catastrophic food insecurity”, according to a classification compiled by UN agencies and NGOs.
More coming on the Israeli strike in Jabalia.
Reuters reports that Israel’s military said dozens of militants were at the site and it conducted a precise strike on a meeting point for Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group inside the compound.
There has been no comment from Hamas yet.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have vowed to retaliate after the United States conducted multiple strikes with heavy B-2 bombers on weapons storage facilities in areas controlled by the Iran-backed group.
A statement from the Iran-backed Houthis’ political bureau said:
We confirm that the American aggression will not pass without a response.
At least 19 Palestinians, including children, were killed on Thursday after an Israeli strike hit a school in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip that is sheltering displaced people, a Gaza health ministry official told Reuters.
Dozens were also injured in the strike, said the official, Medhat Abbas, adding: “There is no water to extinguish the fire. There is nothing.”
Sinwar was one of the chief architects of Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. He was chosen as the group’s top leader following the assassination of Ismael Haniyeh in July in an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.
Israeli forces may have killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar
Al Jazeera staff evacuate Beirut offices after Israeli warnings
345,000 Palestinians face ‘catastrophic’ levels of hunger this winter, says UN-backed assessment
Yemen’s Houthi rebels vow to retaliate after US strikes
‘At least 19 killed and dozens injured’ in Israeli strike in Jabalia – Gaza health ministry
