TEL AVIV, October 25. /TASS/. The elimination in Gaza of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was not a pre-planned operation, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said.

"The elimination of Sinwar was not pre-planned," he said during a trip to northern Gaza, according to a statement from the IDF.

According to the IDF chief of staff, the presence of the 450th Brigade unit, whose soldiers killed Sinwar, was not pre-planned in that area either, he said.

"They did not know who they were shooting at," Halevi said.

However, he also insisted the elimination of the Hamas leader did not happen completely by accident either, as it followed consistent pressure on the radicals from the Israel Defense Forces.

"It did not happen by chance. This was methodical work, a result of pressure on Rafah, a result of the elimination of the [Hamas] brigade in Rafah. It is also a result [of the work] of the regional command, which insisted on deploying more troops during this holiday month (the traditional Jewish holidays lasted almost the entire month of October this fall - TASS), moving forward, maintaining operational control over the territory," the chief of staff said. "This was methodical work, not a coincidence."

The Israeli Defense Forces said on October 17 that it took out three terrorists in Gaza the day before, and one of them could be the Hamas leader. The IDF confirmed a few hours later that one of the bodies was indeed identified as Sinwar’s. Israel regards him as one of the main organizers of Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023. Hamas confirmed the death of its leader on October 18, also refusing to release hostages until Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza.