A top Hamas political official confirms the death of the group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, and said the militant group would not release more hostages until there is a cease-fire in Gaza.

Israeli forces in Gaza killed Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle,

For more than a year, the fate of the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar seemed entwined with the fate of the war in Gaza. Mr. Sinwar orchestrated the Hamas assault on Israel last October that killed up to 1,200 people,