A few hours later, news broke that a separate Israeli operation in southern Gaza, carried out the previous day, had killed Hamas' top leader Yahya Sinwar. Israel confirmed Sinwar's death, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying Sinwar, "who is responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7," was killed by IDF soldiers in southern Gaza.

Leaders of the U.S.-designated terrorist group would have safe passage to another country in exchange for laying down their arms and releasing the hostages, Arab mediators said. It was an idea with echoes of Israel’s 1982 war in Lebanon,