HAMAS mastermind Yahya Sinwar - assassinated by Israeli forces in Gaza today - carved out a bloody reputation for killing his enemies with his bare hands.
The terror kingpin, 62, buried his opposers alive and orchestrated the horrific massacre of some 1,200 people in Israel on October 7.
Dubbed "Gaza's Bin Laden", he was at the very top of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) kill list for over a year.
On Thursday Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz confirmed he had been killed in an airstrike on Rafah, southern Gaza, the day before.
Sinwar, who has led Hamas in Gaza since 2017, evaded assassination for months by hiding in the enclave's underground tunnel network.
Israeli troops struck a building with an airstrike on Wednesday killing three Hamas terrorists.
The building collapsed - and as troops picked through the rubble, they came across a corpse that reportedly "looked very much like" Sinwar.
Extensive DNA and dental tests later confirmed his identity.
Secret files revealed earlier this year shed light on the true horrors that Sinwar committed throughout his bloodthirsty reign as Hamas leader.
Transcripts from Israeli Secret Service interviews done with Sinwar in 1989 revealed how the terror boss liked to kill with his bare hands.
During some 150 hours of interrogation he admitted to a dozen brutal murders, revealing sick details about how he shot his victims from close range or strangled them.
He even admitted to ordering his brother - also a member of Hamas - to bury a man alive who was a suspected Israeli collaborator.
Graphic images shared online on Thursday appeared to show his dead body in the ruins of the struck building in Rafah, with a horrific head wound.
The pictured body appeared to have the same mole as Sinwar next to his left eye as well as similar earlobes and teeth.
Soldiers involved in the strike reportedly did not realise who they took out until they saw his corpse.
His death was later confirmed by foreign minister Israel Katz who said: "Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of 7 October, was killed today by IDF soldiers."
Katz dubbed Sinwar's death a "great military and moral achievement for Israel".
He also said it could mean fresh hope for hostages still being kept in Gaza and a possible "new reality" in the ravaged Strip.
The army later released footage of Sinwar's final moments, hunched over and wounded inside a bombed building in Gaza.
"The elimination of Sinwar creates an opportunity for the immediate release of the hostages and a potential change that could lead to a new reality in Gaza - without Hamas and without Iranian control," Katz said.
Speaking about Sinwar's death, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said "evil has been delivered a blow but our task is not complete".
Netanyahu and top army officials have repeatedly vowed to take out Sinwar since October 7 last year.
The Hamas terror attack on Israeli soil killed over 1,000 people and saw some 250 more kidnapped into Gaza.
It sparked a horrific war in which more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes - according to the UN and other international human rights groups.
Israel recently launched a ground operation in Lebanon too, where Hamas ally Hezbollah is based, with Lebanese officials reporting the number of people killed as more than 2,300.
Speaking about Sinwar's death this evening US President Joe Biden branded today a "good day for Israel, for the United States and for the world".
