The Israeli military said on Thursday that it was checking the possibility that it has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar following an operation in the Gaza Strip that it said had targeted three militants.

"At this stage, the identity of the terrorists cannot be confirmed," it said in a statement.

It said there were no signs that Israeli hostages had been present in the building where the three militants were killed.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Israel's Army Radio said the incident had occurred during a targeted ground operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, during which Israeli troops killed three militants and took their bodies.

It said visual evidence suggested it was likely one of the men was Sinwar and that DNA tests were being conducted. Israel has samples of Sinwar's DNA from his period in an Israeli jail.

If confirmed, the death of Sinwar would represent a major boost to the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a string of high-profile assassinations of prominent leaders of its enemies in recent months.

Architect of Oct. 7 attacks

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, including several Canadian citizens, while taking more than 250 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli government tallies. Israel believes about 100 hostages have yet to be repatriated, with about one-third of those believed to have died.

Israel's campaign in response has killed 42,438 Palestinians and injured 99,246 more, according to Gaza's health ministry. The count from the ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but the Gaza health ministry has said thousands of women and children have been killed in airstrikes. 

Yahya Sinwar, the chief architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, has been at the top of Israel's wanted list ever since. But he has so far eluded detection, possibly hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.

Previously the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Sinwar was named as its overall leader following the assassination of former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, in August.

WATCH l Unclear if 'ruthless' Sinwar would be as pragmatic as predecessor, says analyst: 

Former White House counter-terrorism official Javed Ali on the new Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar

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Israel also killed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, in Beirut last month, as well as much of the top leadership of the group's military wing.

On Thursday, several Palestinians, including children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a shelter in the northern Gaza Strip, a Gaza health ministry official said, while Israel said the attack targeted militants at the site.