This is Israel’s “we got him” moment, the chance finally to echo Barack Obama’s famous words as he announced the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011.

For there is no question that what bin Laden was to Americans, Yahya Sinwar has been to Israelis.

That the Hamas leader who conceived, planned and orchestrated the atrocity of Oct 7, 2023 is now dead will be both a moment of catharsis for the Israeli people and of unalloyed triumph for Benjamin Netanyahu, their prime minister.

In Washington, as well as in the capital cities of Europe and the Middle East, there will also be hope that this is the moment that marks the beginning of the end of the horrors of the past year in Gaza.

With neither Sinwar nor Netanyahu prepared to budge, the prospect of a ceasefire has looked as remote as ever in recent weeks.