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Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, U.S. strikes in Yemen, and a fuel tanker tragedy in Nigeria.
Israel’s Most Wanted
Israeli forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar—one of the chief architects of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel—during an military operation in southern Gaza on Wednesday, Israeli officials said on Thursday. His death signifies a major blow to the militant group and has only intensified uncertainty about the future of what has become a widening regional war in the Middle East.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, U.S. strikes in Yemen, and a fuel tanker tragedy in Nigeria.
Israeli forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar—one of the chief architects of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel—during an military operation in southern Gaza on Wednesday, Israeli officials said on Thursday. His death signifies a major blow to the militant group and has only intensified uncertainty about the future of what has become a widening regional war in the Middle East.
While details are still emerging, initial reports suggest that Sinwar’s death was coincidental—not the result of Israeli intelligence pinpointing the notoriously elusive Hamas leader’s location. Sinwar was reportedly killed when Israeli soldiers exchanged fire with three armed men during a standard patrol, killing all three, Axios reported. It was only after using DNA testing and dental record comparisons that Israeli officials formally confirmed that Sinwar was among those killed. Hamas has not yet confirmed the death.
One of Israel’s most wanted men in Gaza, Sinwar’s death is a major political triumph for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as both the United States and Israel have devoted significant resources trying to capture or kill the Hamas leader. Israeli and U.S. officials believed that Sinwar had been hiding in Gaza’s tunnels since the first weeks of the war, surrounded by Israeli hostages to ensure his own security. Israeli officials said that “there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area” where Sinwar was killed on Wednesday.
Netanyahu celebrated the news of Sinwar’s death, declaring that Israel had “settled its account” with “the person who carried out the worst massacre in the history of our people since the Holocaust.” He also vowed to press on in the war. “Today, evil took a heavy blow—the mission ahead of us is still unfinished,” he said.
Sinwar, who was one of the founders of the militant group’s armed wing, had been the most senior—and most influential—Hamas official inside Gaza for years, with most of the rest of the group’s political leadership living in exile in Doha, Qatar, and elsewhere. But he became the group’s political leader in August after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran. Hamas and Iranian officials have accused Israel of orchestrating the attack; Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility.
Sinwar’s killing is the latest example of how Israel has decimated the leadership of both Hamas and Hezbollah in the past year. Beyond Haniyeh, the Israeli military is also believed to have killed Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, deputy military commander Marwan Issa, and deputy political chief Saleh al-Arouri. Israel has also assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a number of the group’s other senior leaders and top commanders.
Meanwhile, conditions in the Gaza Strip remain grave. Israeli forces have continued to attack U.N. aid convoys to northern Gaza in recent months, U.N. officials warn, further straining a war-weary population already suffering from immense loss. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past year, nearly 17,000 of whom are believed to be children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
U.S. strikes in Yemen. The U.S. military on Wednesday conducted strikes against five underground weapons storage sites in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. The attack included the use of the rarely deployed B-2 long-range stealth bombers, a move that Austin said reflects “U.S. global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere.”
Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023, the Iran-backed Houthis have waged their own campaign of attacks in the Red Sea in support of Hamas. While the Houthis say they are only targeting ships with ties to Israel, many of the impacted vessels don’t have any links to the country. In the past year, the Houthis have attacked more than 80 merchant vessels in the Red Sea, rattling shipping companies and disrupting global commerce.
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 18 companies, individuals, and vessels for their alleged ties to a Houthi financial official and his network, whose revenue “continues to enable Houthi attacks in the region, including missile and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks on Israel and commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea.”
Tanker tragedy. At least 153 people were killed in a fuel tanker explosion that rocked northern Nigeria on Tuesday, according to police and state emergency service officials. The incident occurred after the driver of the fuel tanker lost control of the vehicle, causing it to crash and spill the fuel it was holding. The deadly blast occurred as local residents were attempting to scoop the spilled fuel, officials said.
The explosion marks one of the deadliest such incidents in Nigeria’s recent history. In response to the disaster, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima pledged “immediate federal government intervention and called for a comprehensive review of fuel transportation safety protocols,” according to a statement by his spokesperson.
Italy’s surrogacy curbs. Italy has for two decades banned surrogacy within its borders. Under a new law that passed Wednesday, the country will now also prohibit its citizens from seeking surrogacy abroad in countries where it is legal. The law also criminalizes Italian citizens working in international fertility clinics that enable surrogacies.
The law has sparked fierce pushback from critics and activists who say the legislation is part of a broader crackdown by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on LGBTQ+ families and communities. Italy already prohibits same-sex marriages and blocks same-sex couples from adopting children, either domestically or internationally. Italy’s conservative government says the new law will help protect women’s dignity, but critics say it is yet another blow to LGBTQ+ couples hoping to start a family.
One German town has banned an unusual item from all of its municipal buildings: cactus plants. The ban—which impacts town hall, nurseries, and schools—was imposed after a man injured himself on the prickly plant in a school and needed medical treatment afterward. The cactus can “cause ugly injuries,” Ulrich Schulte, the mayor of Plettenberg, wrote in a letter to state workers.
“Even if this order seems adventurous, excessive, superfluous, or ridiculous to some employees, it has a serious background in terms of protecting the health of all employees and especially children in schools and daycare centers,” he added.