The latest on Hamas leader’s death and war in the Middle East

People and rescuers inspect the site of an Israeli strike in Baaloul, a town in the western Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, on October 19.

A local mayor is among four people killed by an Israeli airstrike in the town of Baaloul in the Beqaa valley of eastern Lebanon, according to the country’s National News Agency (NNA).

The Lebanese health ministry announced the death of four people following an “Israeli enemy raid on Baaloul in the Western Beqaa” on Saturday, without referencing the mayor specifically.

According to the report from NNA, the death toll following the “airstrike on a residential apartment” includes the mayor of the nearby town of Sohmor, Haidar Shahla.

Emergency services were working to identify body parts and remains found in the rubble, the health ministry said.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military regarding the incident.

An image geolocated by CNN showed a large plume of smoke rising behind a mosque in Baaloul.

As Israeli operations in southern Lebanon are ongoing, troops have destroyed a combat complex used by Hezbollah in the area of a village school, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

In a statement Saturday, the IDF said, “In a school complex in southern Lebanon: the forces of the 7th Brigade combat team located weapons caches, shafts and warehouses with combat equipment.”

According to the IDF, troops have so far destroyed infrastructure, several tunnel shafts and over 20 weapons stockpiles that it says were used by Hezbollah, the IDF added.

The Israeli military said that in the school compound, several shafts and an accumulation of weapons were located and destroyed, including rocket-propelled grenade missiles, weapons and other combat equipment. It did not name the village.

Additional munitions warehouses that Hezbollah had left behind were destroyed, the IDF said.

Earlier Saturday, the Israeli military said it had advanced the furthest into southern Lebanon since a ground incursion began at the end of September.

The Israeli military says its soldiers have advanced the furthest into southern Lebanon since a ground incursion began at the end of last month.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Saturday that the 98th Division had raided a Hezbollah headquarters “in the deepest area IDF forces have operated so far in ground operations in Lebanon. The fighters are raiding terrorist infrastructures and destroying them, eliminating terrorists and locating many weapons.”

It added that troops had raided a Hezbollah headquarters and an observation post that oversaw the settlements of the Galilee Panhandle, a narrow strip of land on the Israel-Lebanon border,?and had located and “destroyed munitions, weapons and other enemy intelligence means.”

Remember: Israel has been mounting what it describes as a limited ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The incursion, which Israel’s National Security Cabinet has called the “next phase” of its war with Hezbollah, marked the fourth time?that Israeli soldiers have publicly entered Lebanese soil in nearly 50 years.

CNN is unable to independently verify reports of fighting on the ground.

A further 20,000 people were forced to flee Jabalya camp in northern Gaza on Friday amid intense fighting, the United Nations said, with many seeking refuge in the organization’s shelters.

Although a dozen trucks of flour were allowed into Gaza City this week, the amount was far from sufficient to meet the escalating needs, according to Lazzarini. Only a few bakeries in the city have been able to step up bread production for distribution to those in UNRWA shelters.

The Biden administration sent a letter to the Israeli government this week, demanding it act to improve the?humanitarian situation in Gaza?within the next 30 days or risk?violating?US laws governing foreign military assistance.

The situation has worsened due to widespread communication and internet disruptions across Gaza City and northern regions, along with critical shortages of fuel and medical supplies in the remaining operational hospitals, added Lazzarini. Fuel shortages have also affected access to water.

Paltel, Gaza’s primary internet service provider, confirmed a complete internet blackout in the northern Gaza Strip in a statement on Saturday, attributing it to the “ongoing military hostilities.”

Context: Jabalya has been subjected to sustained strikes throughout this month following the Israeli military’s order for mass evacuations from large parts of northern Gaza. Israeli airstrikes on Jabalya refugee camp killed at least 33 people on Friday night, including 21 women, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs in Lebanon after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon, on October 19.

Airstrikes hit southern Beirut on Saturday soon after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued an urgent warning for residents of two buildings to evacuate.

Lebanese state media confirmed that at least two airstrikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut.

It is not clear if the strikes targeted the buildings identified in the earlier warning.

“For your safety and the safety of your family, you must evacuate these buildings and those nearby immediately and move at least 500 meters away from them,” an IDF spokesperson had warned on X prior to the strikes.

Soon after they were carried out, the Israel Defense Forces issued a second evacuation warning.

“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future,” said the IDF’s Arabic spokesman, specifying a building in the Choueifat Al-Umara neighborhood.

Israel’s operations in Lebanon:?Yesterday, residents of 23 villages in southern Lebanon were issued an evacuation notice and urged to move north. On Tuesday, the Middle East director of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that around a fifth of Lebanon’s population has fled their homes, and about a quarter of the country is under Israeli military evacuation orders.

About a dozen people have been killed Saturday in three separate strikes and shelling in different parts of Gaza, Gaza’s Civil Defense and hospital authorities say.

The Civil Defense said that seven people had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Al Shati refugee camp, which is close to the coast in northern Gaza.

Al-Awda Hospital, central Gaza, said it had received four bodies and four injured people as a result of bombing west of the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said that in a third attack, five people had been killed or wounded, including children, by Israeli shelling on a residential complex in the Jabalya Al-Balad area in northern Gaza.

Remember: The Israeli military has confirmed ongoing operations in several parts of Gaza, with the most intense appearing to be in the north.

CNN reported a week ago that the IDF had launched a wide-scale operation following intelligence that it said showed attempts by Hamas to “rebuild its operational capabilities in the area.”

An Israeli tank maneuvers near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, on October 15.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Israeli forces will “continue forward until the end.”

Netanyahu made brief remarks on camera to Israeli media Saturday. It’s not clear where he was speaking.

“We eliminated the master murderer Yahya Sinwar,” he said.

“I said we are in the war of resurrection and we continue forward until the end.”

Netanyahu said he was proud of Israel’s soldiers and all its citizens.

After being asked if anything would deter him, he replied: “No, nothing will deter us. We continue until victory.”

On Friday, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby suggested that Sinwar was the chief obstacle to securing a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict - and his killing had created an “inflection point” that could accelerate talks to wind down the war.

Remember: Israel succeeded Wednesday in its year-long mission to kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the man accused of being one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023 attacks.

But while Sinwar’s death is a huge blow for Hamas, it does not signal the immediate demise of the group. Hamas has vowed to continue fighting, saying that the killing of leaders – including Sinwar –?does not mean the end of the movement.

Dozens of people have been reported killed in Gaza, while a drone targeted the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the city of Caesarea, central Israel.

Both Israel and Hamas have vowed to carry on fighting, dashing US hopes that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could lead to a truce and hostage deal

Below are the latest developments:

Israeli security forces gather in front of a building in Kiryat Ata, Israel, that was damaged by a rocket fired from Lebanon on October 19.

One Israeli has been killed and others injured in a series of barrages from southern Lebanon Saturday, Israeli emergency services say.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a total of 150 launches from southern Lebanon on Saturday had been detected.

One person was killed in Acre, northern Israel. Paramedics said the 50-year-old man was hit by shrapnel while sitting in his car.

Another person injured by shrapnel at the same location was evacuated in moderate condition to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.

Cross-border attacks have intensified in recent weeks but Israeli fatalities are rare.

A barrage aimed at the city of Haifa damaged a home in Kiryat Ata, according to emergency services.

Ten people in the area had been taken to hospital. Three people suffered shrapnel injuries, while others were suffering from shock.

Following damage to an open road in the Western Galilee, four people were referred to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, including a man who was in moderate condition with shrapnel injuries.

Relatives pray by the shrouded body of 10-year-old Sama al-Debs who was killed by Israel during an army operation in the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, during her funeral on October 18.

Dozens of Palestinians have been reported killed in strikes on northern Gaza over the past 24 hours, amid what the Israeli military says are operations aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.

A statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Saturday said that in the Jabalya area of northern Gaza, troops “eliminated several terrorists in close-quarters encounters.”

Remember: Jabalya has seen sustained strikes for much of this month after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of large swathes of northern Gaza.

The Health Ministry in Gaza meanwhile said Saturday that Israeli forces were intensifying the “targeting of the health system in the northern Gaza Strip, by besieging and directly targeting the Indonesian Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, and Al-Awda Hospital during the past hours.”

Munir Al-Barash, Director of the Gaza Health Ministry, said he had learned that two people in the intensive care unit at the Indonesian Hospital had passed away due to the power outage there.

The Hamas-run Government Media Office in Gaza reported late Friday that 33 people had been killed, including 21 women, in one strike in the north of the Strip. Gaza Civil Defense reported casualties in a several other strikes.

Communications with the northern Gaza Strip are very difficult, but CNN reached one Palestinian, Ismail Zaida, early Saturday. He said there had been “violent air strikes in the Saftawi area” of Jabalya. “We hear ambulances arriving and now, huge explosions.”

Civilians flee: The IDF has issued a series of evacuation orders for northern Gaza this month with CNN video on Friday showing civilians leaving parts of Jabalya and heading towards Gaza City.

CNN reported a week ago that the IDF had launched a wide-scale operation following intelligence that it said showed attempts by Hamas to “rebuild its operational capabilities in the area.”

This still from video provided by the Israel Defense Forces shows the moment of firing on the building where Sinwar was located.

For more than a year since Hamas?attacked Israel last October 7,?Israeli forces —?with some quiet help from the United States —?had been hunting the mastermind behind that day: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

More than once, they had been close, pushing the Hamas chief from one underground hiding place to the next. But Sinwar had moved like a ghost in the endless warren of tunnels dug beneath the streets of Gaza, rarely coming above ground and communicating only through courier to avoid detection by electronic surveillance.

In the end, it was only by pure accident that a group of?Israeli soldiers stumbled?on Israel’s most wanted man.

Infantry soldiers from the IDF’s Bislach Brigade, a unit that normally trains future commanders, had been tracking several men among the ruins in southern Gaza, pulverized by Israel’s punishing bombing campaign. Gunfire broke out. The Israelis fired back from a tank and sent a drone swooping into one of the hollowed-out buildings.

It was only after the exchange of fire had ended and troops returned the following morning to inspect the rubble that they realized one of the bodies was Sinwar.

Read the full story here.

The Israeli military has been dropping leaflets in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza promising free passage to anyone who lays down their arms and helps return the hostages still held.

The leaflets show a photograph of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar dead, surrounded by rubble, and include the message: “Sinwar destroyed your lives. He hid in a dark hole and was eliminated while fleeing in panic.”

The message continues: “Hamas will not govern Gaza anymore. Finally, the opportunity has come for you to be liberated from its tyranny.”

“Whoever lays down their weapon and returns the abductees to us, we will allow them to leave and live in peace.”

The pledge was first made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.

There are 101 hostages still held in Gaza, Israeli authorities say, but as many as one-third of them are thought to be dead.

Palestinians conduct a search and rescue operation after Israeli forces attack on a building in the Maghazi refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on October 19.

An airstrike on two houses in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Saturday has killed 11 members of the same family, according to hospital authorities and a family member.

Abu Ibrahim Shanaya, a cousin and neighbor of some of those killed, told CNN that eleven people were killed and several others injured.

Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital reported receiving 11 bodies, including those of three children and four women.

The IDF has not commented specifically on any strike in Maghazi, but said that “in the central Gaza Strip, troops directed IAF strikes and dismantled terrorist structures used by Hamas to execute sniper fire and plant explosives.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a commemoration ceremony for soldiers killed during the 2014 Gaza war, also known as Operation Protective Edge, at the Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on July 16.

A drone has been launched towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea, central Israel, his office said in a statement.

The prime minister’s spokeswoman confirmed the attack, saying Netanyahu and his wife were not home at the time of the strike.

There were no casualties in the attack, the spokesman added.

In an earlier statement, Israel?‘s military said a drone launched from Lebanon “hit a structure in the area of Caesarea.”

The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza came under Israeli fire Saturday, the enclave’s Ministry of Health said.

At least five shells hit the facility, according to the hospital’s director.

Artillery targeted the hospital’s upper floors as “more than 40 patients and wounded individuals, along with the medical staff” remained inside the hospital, the health ministry said in a statement.

A group of displaced people in front of the hospital’s gate were targeted, the ministry added.

The hospital has experienced a complete power outage, according to the ministry.

In a voice note sent to CNN, the hospital’s director Dr. Marwan Sultan said at least five shells had hit the hospital building, with smoke filling the hospital and posing a serious threat to patients and medical staff.

Sultan said some patients are in critical need of care and oxygen.

CNN contacted Israel’s military for comment.

Last week, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital along with two other hospitals in northern Gaza – Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda – according to Doctors Without Borders and the health ministry.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, on September 25.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed sorrow over the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a statement shared on his official X account Saturday.

Khamenei called Sinwar’s death a “painful” loss for the “Resistance Front” – referring to a network of Iran-backed regional proxies including Hamas – but vowed that the movement would continue.

The front “didn’t halt its progress in wake of the martyrdoms of eminent figures,” he said, citing previous Hamas leaders killed by Israel over the years. “Similarly, it won’t falter with Sinwar’s martyrdom either.”

In his statement, addressed to Muslim nations and the “courageous youth of the region,” Khamenei praised Sinwar for dedicating his life to the struggle against Israel and said “anything less than martyrdom would have been an unworthy fate” for the Hamas leader.

Sinwar, believed by Israel to have been chief architect of the militant group’s deadly October 7 attack that set off the war in Gaza, was killed by Israeli forces during a routine ground patrol in Rafah on Wednesday, Israeli officials said. Hamas has confirmed his death.

Israeli airstrikes on northern Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp killed at least 33 people on Friday night, including 21 women, according to the enclave’s Government Media Office.

The death toll is expected to rise as many victims remain trapped under the rubble, the Hamas-run GMO said in a statement.

More than 85 people were injured, some critically, the GMO added, while accusing the Israeli military of bombing people’s homes.

CNN has contacted Israel’s military for comment.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians in the enclave, according to local officials, and left tens of thousands of others fighting disease, severe hunger and constant displacement.

A Palestinian boy looks at destroyed shelters at the site of an Israeli airstrike which hit tents for displaced people two days earlier in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on October 16.

Abu Mohammed stands with red, bleary eyes. Women and young men walk on a muddied pathway as children run between rows of improvised tents in Deir al-Balah displacement camp, central Gaza.

Mohammed and others staying in makeshift displacement camps have survived Israeli bombardments that have laid waste to Gaza’s streets for over a year, enduring catastrophic violence, constant killings and disfigurement, and crippling hunger.

As Israel celebrated its killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar this week – with its allies hoping Sinwar’s death will now open a possibility for peace in Gaza – Mohammed and many others remain skeptical it will change their daily reality.

“I do not believe that the war will end with his killing,” Mohammed told CNN, adding that he was “saddened” to hear the news of the death of Sinwar.

Israel’s most wanted man, believed to be one of the architects of the group’s October 7, 2023 attack, was killed by the Israeli military in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Wednesday.

Many Gazans today are afraid to publicly voice support for Sinwar and Hamas for fear of being targeted by the Israeli military — which launched its siege of Gaza with the stated aim of destroying Hamas after it led the October 7 terror attacks, and to save the hostages taken that day. Others fear condemning Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave.

But Samah, 36, told CNN that she saw Sinwar’s acts as crimes, for which Gaza had borne the human cost.

“Sinwar was a target for Israel and he was targeted and killed. He attacked Israel, and committed crimes that we have paid the price for … We paid with horrific tragedies, with the blood of our children, our money, and our homes.”

Read more on how Gazans are reacting to Sinwar’s death.

Yahya Sinwar chairs a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions at his office in Gaza City, on April 13, 2022.

Hamas confirmed the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, in a?video statement?by senior official Khalil Al Hayya, who has served as chief negotiator for the militant group in talks for a potential Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

In a televised address, Al Hayya said?Hamas will not release Israeli hostages?until “aggression on our people in Gaza stops,” Israel completely withdraws from the enclave?and Palestinian prisoners in Israel are released.

Here’s what else to know:

More details emerge:?The chief pathologist who autopsied Sinwar’s body told CNN that the?Hamas leader was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. The Israel Defense Forces previously had not said anything about its troops firing a fatal gunshot. Asked for comment, an IDF spokesperson told CNN that there was an exchange of gunfire and that the combat ended with Israel firing a tank shell at the building. The IDF is still working to learn all of the details, the spokesperson added. The pathologist further told CNN that when Israeli forces found a body resembling Sinwar’s on Wednesday,?his finger was cut off and sent for DNA testing?in order to identify him.

US response so far:?US President?Joe?Biden said that ending the conflict in the Middle East?will still be difficult?after Sinwar’s death. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the?US could “quite possibly” play a role?in stabilization efforts in Gaza after the war with Israel ends, adding it would need to be defined alongside allies in the region.

Blockade of medical organizations:?The World Health Organization has?accused Israel of blocking?multiple medical organizations from entering Gaza — marking the first time entire health agencies have been denied access to the enclave during the over yearlong war. Specialists denied entry were supposed to support “already overburdened” staff in performing medical treatments, including surgeries, at strained facilities such as the Nasser Medical Complex and the European Hospital?in southern Gaza and Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, WHO said. COGAT, the Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza,?has denied the accusations.

Gaza’s strained health care system:?Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, is overwhelmed by the amount of incoming patients, with staff fatigued and running out of medical supplies and food, the director said. “This is a catastrophic situation in every sense of the meaning,” Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya told CNN in a video message. “From yesterday until this moment, no one has slept.” In addition, the hospital is grappling with the number of babies born prematurely due to the stress on pregnant women amid heavy bombing in northern Gaza, he added.

Israel continues operations in Lebanon:?Israel issued an evacuation notice?to residents of 23 villages in southern Lebanon, urging them to move north. Some of the villages mentioned in the notice on Friday had been named in previous warnings. On Tuesday, the Middle East director of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that around a fifth of Lebanon’s population has fled their homes, and about a quarter of the country is under Israeli military evacuation orders.?Israel also called up “an additional reserve brigade?for operational missions” in northern Israel against Hezbollah, the IDF said.

The Israeli military said it identified about 20 projectiles “crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory” overnight into Saturday, with no damage or injuries reported.

“Some of the projectiles were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, adding that the projectiles targeted the Upper Galilee area.

A drone was identified a few hours later in the northern Golan Heights, Israel’s military said. The unmanned aerial vehicle crossed into Israel from Syria, causing no damage, according to the military.

Mohammad al-Dalou whimpered as he mourned the death of another son — the second of his children to die this week — in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital on Friday.

CNN footage from the medical facility in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza showed dozens of men comforting the Palestinian father over the loss of Abdul Rahman. The 11-year-old boy died early Thursday, just days after he was severely wounded in?a fire set off by an Israeli airstrike?that hit improvised tents in the hospital complex on Monday.

Al-Dalou’s right arm and head are scarred with burns from that blaze, CNN footage shows. As CNN previously reported, al-Dalou managed to rescue three of his children, including Abdul Rahman — but could not save his other son, Shaaban, 19, or his wife, Alaa, 37, who died in the flames that night.

Shaaban, a university student who would have turned 20 on Wednesday, memorized the Quran and dreamed of leaving Gaza, according to al-Dalou.

“I wish the fire had consumed me and not my children. Oh, my heart, my children. My whole life is gone. My whole life is gone,” said al-Dalou.

The Israel Defense Forces said the strike in Deir al-Balah was targeting a Hamas command center it claimed was embedded within the hospital complex.

Yahya Sinwar hosts a meeting at Hamas President's office in Gaza City on April 13, 2022.

The body of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could be used as a “bargaining chip” in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, Israeli sources tell CNN.

Sinwar’s remains are currently being held in a secret location in Israel, according to local media reports, after he was killed on Wednesday by Israeli forces in southern Gaza.

Two sources told CNN that securing hostage releases would likely be Israel’s priority in deciding how to leverage the remains of the man accused by Israel of masterminding the October 7 terror attacks last year.

More than 100 hostages taken during the Hamas-led attacks remain in captivity in Gaza. Israeli authorities are currently weighing how to “create pressure quickly” on Hamas to let them go, one Israeli source said.

Both sources agreed Sinwar could be seen as a “bargaining chip.”

A swap for hostages is likely the only way that Sinwar’s remains return to Gaza,?said the?Israeli source. “Otherwise handing him over is not going to happen,” the source said.

According to the diplomatic source, returning Sinwar’s remains to Gaza in any circumstance risks rallying Hamas supporters. If Sinwar were buried in Gaza, the site could become a shrine for followers, the source also predicted.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog held a security meeting on Friday about the “significant window of opportunity” that Sinwar’s killing presents for the return of hostages, Herzog’s office said in a statement.

In remarks Thursday, Netanyahu?also called on Hamas members still holding Israeli hostages to lay down their weapons and return the captives, saying whoever does so will be allowed to “go out and live.”

Israel succeeded Wednesday in its year-long mission to kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the man accused of being one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023, attacks.

While Sinwar’s death is a huge blow for Hamas, it does not signal the immediate demise of the group. Hamas has vowed to continue fighting, saying that the killing of leaders — including Sinwar —?does not mean the end of its movement.

As rumors swirl about Sinwar’s successor, here’s?what we know about what’s next for Hamas:

It is unclear whether Sinwar himself left any instructions on who should replace him, but his younger brother?Mohammed Sinwar?is seen by many as his heir apparent. Like his brother, Mohammed is a hardline militant. He recently became Hamas’ military commander.

Mohammed Sinwar’s fate is currently unknown. Israeli media reported Friday that an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said that they are “actively searching” for him. A senior Israeli official previously told CNN the two brothers spent much of the past year side by side and were together as recently as August.

Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chief of Hamas’ political bureau who helped found Hamas, could also be a contender to become Sinwar’s replacement. He spent five years living in the United States before the FBI designated him as a terrorist. He was eventually deported.

Khaled Meshaal, the group’s former political chief, is also seen as a powerful contender for the role. Meshaal is well known internationally, having met with top officials including former United States President Jimmy Carter, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the past.

However, he might face difficulty over his past support for a Sunni uprising against Syrian President Bashar al Assad as Hamas, itself a Sunni group, is supported by Shia-majority Iran.

Sinwar’s deputy?Khalil Al Hayya?is seen as another possible successor. He acted as the chief negotiator for Hamas during recent ceasefire talks in Cairo and is based in Qatar.

The chief pathologist who autopsied the body of Yahya Sinwar told CNN that the Hamas leader was killed by a gunshot wound to the head.

Dr. Chen Kugel, the chief pathologist at Israel’s National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, said that while Sinwar suffered other serious injuries — including from a tank shell or missile — he was confident a bullet to the head was what had killed the Hamas leader.

The Israeli military previously said that Sinwar was killed after a tank fired a shell into the building in which he had already been wounded and had not said anything about its troops firing a fatal gunshot.

Asked for comment about Kugel’s findings, an IDF spokesperson told CNN that there was an exchange of gunfire and that the combat ended with the Israeli military firing a tank shell at the building. The Israeli military is still working to learn all of the details of the event, the spokesperson said.

Kugel said he is confident in his analysis, which was based on examining Sinwar’s body. He only learned of the Israeli military’s account of Sinwar’s death after conducting the autopsy.

When asked about Sinwar’s approximate time of death, Kugel told CNN that it was likely late afternoon on Wednesday — more than 24 hours before his body arrived at the institute late Thursday night, he said.