The Israeli military said on Thursday that it has killed Yahya Sinwar, a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas who was believed to have been the architect of the attack on Israel on October 7 last year.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announcing the killing, said: “While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it's the beginning of the end.”

Netanyahu said that Sinwar was killed in the city of Rafah in Gaza. Hamas has not yet confirmed the death.

Sinwar was killed in a chance encounter with Israeli troops in southern Gaza, and it was only later that his identity was established, the BBC reported.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that military personnel identified three men running from house to house, and engaged them, after which they split up. The man later identified as Sinwar “ran alone into one of the buildings” and was later killed after being spotted with a drone, he said.

Drone footage released by Israel on Thursday purportedly showed the Hamas leader’s final moments before he was killed. The video showed an injured man sitting with his head covered on a chair in a largely destroyed building. The man was seen throwing what appeared to be a stick at the drone, after which the footage ended.

United States President Joe Biden, commenting on Sinwar’s death, said the Hamas leader was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israelis, Palestinians and Americans, among others. “This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world,” Biden said.

The United States president said there is now an opportunity for “a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike”.

“Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals,” Biden said. “That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us.”

Over the past 12 months, Israel has carried out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza. The attacks have killed more than 42,000 persons, including over 16,500 children and caused massive destruction in the besieged territory.

Sinwar led Hamas in Gaza for years and became its top leader in July after Ismail Haniyeh's death in an Israeli strike in Tehran. Sinwar had been imprisoned by Israel from the late 1980s until 2011.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday urged Hamas fighters to surrender and release the hostages.

Hundreds demonstrated in Tel Aviv for the release of hostages following news of Sinwar's death, with signs saying, “Sinwar’s end, end the war.”