The military said in a statement on Thursday that three militants were killed during operations in the enclave, 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.
During IDF operations in Gaza, 3 terrorists were eliminated. The IDF and ISA are checking the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar. At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed.— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there…October 17, 2024
It said there were no signs that hostages had been present in the building where the three militants were killed.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
Al-Majd, a Hamas-linked website that usually publishes about security issues, urged Palestinians to wait for information about Sinwar from the group itself and not Israeli media outlets, which it said aimed to break their spirit.
If confirmed, the death of Sinwar would represent a major boost to the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a string of high-profile assassinations of prominent leaders of its enemies in recent months.
Israel's Army Radio said the incident had occurred during a ground operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during which Israeli troops killed three militants and took their bodies.
It said visual evidence suggested it was likely that one of the men was Sinwar and DNA tests were being conducted.
Israel has samples of Sinwar's DNA from his period in an Israeli jail.
Sinwar, allegedly the chief architect of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, has been at the top of Israel's wanted list ever since.
But he has so far eluded detection, possibly hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under the Gaza Strip over the past two decades.
"You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword." - Leviticus 26— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) Our enemies cannot hide. We will pursue and eliminate them. pic.twitter.com/FDJ7obPIM7October 17, 2024
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted a message on social media platform X with a biblical quotation.
"'You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.' - Leviticus 26 Our enemies cannot hide. We will pursue and eliminate them."
The post contained pictures of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in Beirut last month and former Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who was killed in August, with a blank space for a third picture between them.
All three were crossed out in red.
Previously leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Sinwar was named as its overall leader following the assassination of former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 killing about 1200 people and taking more than 250 hostages into the Gaza Strip.
Israel's campaign in response has killed more than 42,000 people, turned much of Gaza into rubble and displaced most of its population.
AP and Reuters
18°C