The United States stated this Thursday (17) that its forces had no involvement in the Israeli operation that killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, even though American intelligence contributed information about Hamas leaders.
“This was an Israeli operation. There were no US forces directly involved,” highlighted US Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman.
“The United States helped contribute information and intelligence related to hostage recovery and the tracking and location of Hamas leaders who were responsible for holding hostages. And certainly that contributes to the overall case,” Ryder added.
“But again, this was an Israeli operation. And I would refer you to them to talk about the details of how the operation took place”, he pointed out.
Who is Yahya Sinwar?
A long-time Hamas figure, Yahya Sinwar was born in 1962 in a refugee camp in Khan Younis, south of Gaza.
He was responsible for building the group’s military arm before forming important new ties with regional Arab powers as a civilian and political leader.
Sinwar was elected to Hamas’ top decision-making body, the Politburo, in 2017 as Hamas’s political leader in Gaza.
However, he has since become the de facto leader of the Politburo, according to research by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
He has been designated a global terrorist by the US State Department since 2015 and has been sanctioned by the United Kingdom and France.
Find out more about who Yahya Sinwar was through this article.
Understand the conflict in the Gaza Strip
Israel has carried out intense airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since last year, after Hamas invaded the country and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli counts. Furthermore, the radical group holds dozens of hostages.
Hamas does not recognize Israel as a state and claims Israeli territory for Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised several times to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and recover people detained in Gaza. In addition to the air offensive, the Israeli Army is carrying out land incursions into Palestinian territory. This caused much of Gaza’s population to be displaced.
The UN and several humanitarian institutions have warned of a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with a lack of food, medicine and the spread of diseases.
About a year into the conflict, the Israeli population took to the streets in protests against Netanyahu, accusing the prime minister of failing to reach a ceasefire agreement so the hostages could be released.
*with information from Reuters
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This content was originally published in USA had no involvement in the assassination of the Hamas leader, says Pentagon on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
