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The Israeli army said on Thursday it was “investigating” whether Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was killed during a military operation in Gaza. This would be the latest in a series of deaths of militant leaders.

A brief statement from the military gave no details about the specific operation or when it was carried out, but said Sinwar may have been one of three Palestinian militants killed.

During “operations in the Gaza Strip, three terrorists were eliminated,” and Israeli defense officials “are examining the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar. At this point, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed,” it said.

“In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area,” the military added.

Israel accuses the 61-year-old Sinwar of being, along with Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing war.

The Israeli military said Deif was killed in an attack earlier this year, but the Palestinian group has not confirmed this.

Sinwar in August replaced former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran on July 31. Israel has not accepted responsibility for Haniyeh's death.

Last year's Hamas attack on Israeli soil killed 1,206 people, most of them civilians. This is according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures and including hostages killed in captivity.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive in the Gaza Strip killed 42,438 people, most of them civilians, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-controlled territory. The UN recognizes the numbers as reliable.

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