For more than a year, Israeli military and intelligence forces have been searching every inch of Gaza for the man believed to be the architect of the October 7 attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, Yahya Sinwar. Yet it was a chance encounter with a squadron of trainees on patrol that miraculously uncovered Israel’s most wanted target. 

“Wow, wow, wow, it’s Sinwar,” an Israel Defense Force soldier exclaimed while gazing at a body after an exchange of fire in southern Gaza, according to Kan news. It took nearly 24 hours before forensic tests confirmed what that soldier recognized: the top Hamas leader was dead. 

His death came after a firefight between trainee soldiers in southern Gaza on Wednesday. During the battle, Sinwar threw grenades at the soldiers, who withdrew and sent a drone into the building to hunt him down. A video released by Israel showed a figure, who would later be identified as Sinwar, sitting in a chair taking his last breaths before he tosses a stick at the drone about to kill him.

According to Israel’s Channel 12, the troops called for a tank to fire into the building, causing portions of the structure to collapse. As the soldiers examined the building, they found three bodies. One of the bodies, the soldiers determined, bore a striking resemblance to Sinwar despite severe wounds, including to his head. 

Before Israeli officials could confirm that the body was Sinwar, they noticed the body had a mole near the left eye. They also used a piece of wood to open his mouth to examine his chipped teeth, which appeared similar to those in pictures of Sinwar. 

Israeli forces recovered “Mentos, money, an AK-47, a lighter, and a UNRWA employee ID” from the body, Channel 12’s Amit Segal reported.

Due to concerns the area was booby-trapped, though, they were unable to recover his body immediately. The Telegraph reported the military-style vest Sinwar was wearing when he died carried at least three grenades. 

Israeli officials confirmed Sinwar had been killed 24 hours after the encounter by matching dental and fingerprint records they had from his time in an Israeli prison, and then published pictures of his body in the rubble surrounded by IDF soldiers.

While addressing the death of the Hamas leader, Prime Minster Netanyahu said Israel had “settled its account” with Sinwar. However, he added, the “war is not ended.” 

The now-deceased leader of Hamas was elevated to the position in July to replace Ismael Haniyeh, who was killed in an attack in Tehran that is believed to have been carried out by Israel. 

While Israel’s stated goal of the war in Gaza was eliminating Hamas, Sinwar was one of its primary targets. Intelligence operatives and soldiers spent vast resources while searching for him in the tunnels under Gaza.