Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, architect of the group’s cross-border raids in 2023 that became the deadliest day in Israel’s history, was killed in combat, Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy Gaza Hamas chief and the group’s chief negotiator, said on Friday.

Sinwar’s death, which follows Israeli assassinations of other Hamas leaders and commanders, will deal a huge blow to the group which has faced relentless air strikes since it attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

It also dragged about 250 people back to Gaza, creating a hostage crisis for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government which has vowed to eliminate Hamas.

Sinwar will be remembered as a ruthless enforcer among Palestinians who collaborated with Israel and an implacable enemy of the country which jailed him for many years.

Sinwar was named the group’s paramount leader on August 6, as a successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran on July 31.

Widely known as the architect of the Oct 7, 2023 attack, the most devastating event for Israel in decades, Sinwar has been in Gaza, defying Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the war.

Born in a refugee camp in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Sinwar, 62, was elected as Hamas’ leader in Gaza in 2017.

The controversial leader, who spent half his adult life in Israeli prisons, was the most powerful Hamas leader left alive following the assassination of Haniyeh.

Sinwar’s death creates chance for ceasefire, says US Defense Secretary

Meanwhile, the United States called on Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah to seize opportunities for change following the killing of Hamas’ leader Yahya Sinwar, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday.

“We’ll see how things evolve,” Austin said, when asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to keep fighting.

“But clearly there are opportunities for a change in direction, and we would hope that, you know, parties would would take advantage of that, both in Lebanon, in Gaza and in Lebanon.”

The Israeli military said on Thursday that Sinwar, architect of last year’s Hamas’s cross-border assault on Israel, was killed in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Austin also said that US Forces in the Middle East stood ready to support Israel’s defence.

Israeli hostages will not return until Gaza ‘aggression’ stops, says Hamas official

Israeli hostages in Gaza will not return until “the aggression” on the besieged Palestinian enclave stops and Israeli forces withdraw, Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy Gaza Hamas chief and the group’s chief negotiator, said on Friday.

UN says Israeli settlers cut down olive trees amid ‘war-like’ West Bank campaign

The United Nations humanitarian office accused Israel on Friday of using “war-like” tactics against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, citing killings by soldiers and attacks on Palestinian olive groves by Israeli settlers.

This month so far, OCHA has received reports that settlers have carried out 32 attacks against Palestinians and their properties, including on their slow-growing olive trees, OCHA said. The latest was a woman killed while harvesting her olives in Jenin on Thursday, the agency said.

“It is, frankly, very concerning that it’s not only attacks on people, but it’s attacks on their olive groves as well,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said at a Geneva press briefing. “The olive harvest is an economic lifeline for tens of thousands of Palestinian families in the West Bank,” he added, saying that UN agencies were assessing how they can support them.

In total, around 600 mainly olive trees have been burnt, vandalised or stolen by settlers, the agency said in a report that showed a Palestinian man standing next to a olive tree stump with its branches sawn off.

Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year. Israel says its actions in the West Bank have been in response to what it has described as a drastic increase in such incidents.

The Israeli mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

OCHA says nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces there between Oct 8-14, including one child.

“Israeli forces have been using lethal, war-like tactics in the West Bank, raising serious concerns over excessive use of force and deepening people’s humanitarian needs,” said Laerke.

He added that Israeli forces had accused most of those killed of being involved in attacking Israelis.