JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP)— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip was the “beginning of the end” of the year-long war in the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli military said that after a lengthy hunt, troops had on Wednesday “eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organisation, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip”.

Hamas has not confirmed his death.

Netanyahu, who vowed to crush Hamas at the start of the war, hailed Sinwar’s killing, saying: “While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it’s the beginning of the end.”

He had earlier called Sinwar’s death an “important landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamas”.

The chief of Hamas in Gaza at the time of the October 7 attack that sparked the war, Sinwar became the militant group’s overall leader after the killing in July of its political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

He is said to have masterminded the October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israeli history, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures that includes hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s announcement of Sinwar’s death comes weeks after it assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a strike in Lebanon, where the Israeli military has been at war since late September.

With Hamas already weakened more than a year into the Gaza war, Sinwar’s death deals an immense blow to the organisation.

US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israel’s top arms provider, said: “This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.”

“There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

Militants also seized 251 hostages during the October 7 attack and took them into Gaza. Ninety-seven remain there, including 34 who Israeli officials say are dead.

Following the attack, Netanyahu vowed to defeat Hamas and bring home all the hostages.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 42,438 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures which the UN considers reliable.

Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi said: “We are settling the score with Sinwar, who is responsible for that very difficult day a year ago.”

He vowed the military would keep fighting “until we capture all the terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre and bring all the hostages home”.

Some Israelis hailed the news of Sinwar’s death as a sign of better things to come.

But whether the Hamas chief’s death will bring the end of the war any closer is unclear.

Warning that the hostages were in “grave danger”, Israeli military historian Guy Aviad said Sinwar’s killing was “a significant event… but it’s not the end of the war”.