Hamas on Friday confirmed that its leader Yahya Sinwar had been killed by the Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday.

At the same time, it sought to pour cold water on Israeli hopes of an easier path to a hostage release deal now that the terror leader is gone, saying the 101 hostages still held in Gaza would not be freed until the war ends and Israel fully withdraws from the enclave.

Both Jerusalem and Washington, meanwhile, expressed cautious optimism that Sinwar’s death could yet hasten the release of the hostages. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported by Hebrew media outlets to be holding consultations Friday on the future of the Gaza war in the wake of the demise of Sinwar.

At the same time, the White House said long-stalled truce-hostage talks had yet to be renewed.

An Israeli official also warned that Sinwar’s brother and possible successor was no less of a hardliner than the slain terror chief, and suggested Israel could pursue smaller hostage deals with disparate Hamas factions if no central leadership emerges quickly.

Also on Friday, the army released footage of a tank firing at the building where Sinwar was hiding. One of the tank’s shells killed Sinwar, who had been spotted moving through the neighborhood with two bodyguards.

Channel 12 reported that Sinwar’s nephew, who was one of the men killed with him, was carrying many documents relating to the Hamas leader’s affairs, and that these could supply key intelligence to Israel.

In a video statement Friday, Khalil al-Hayya, deputy leader of Hamas’s Qatar-based politburo, said Israel would come to regret killing Sinwar, adding that his “martyrdom” would only strengthen the terror group.

The hostages “will not return… unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops,” the senior Hamas official said.

Hamas’s armed wing vowed, in its own statement, to keep fighting Israel until the “liberation of Palestine,” as it mourned the death of the group’s chief.

Hamas’s fellow Iran-backed groups, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis, offered their condolences for Sinwar’s death and also vowed to keep fighting.

Hailing the killing in a video statement Thursday, Netanyahu pledged to press on in Gaza and Lebanon. He also addressed Palestinians holding hostages in Gaza, saying the captors would be spared if they laid down their arms and released their captives.

On Friday Netanyahu was slated to consult with security chiefs at IDF headquarters, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel. The official said there would be a separate meeting to discuss the hostages.

Hebrew media reported that Netanyahu also met with President Isaac Herzog Friday to discuss the new “window of opportunity” that Sinwar’s killing had opened.

The Prime Minister’s Office said Friday that US President Joe Biden had called Netanyahu on Thursday night to congratulate him on Sinwar’s killing, and that the two leaders had agreed to pursue the new opportunity to release the hostages.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in Washington that Sinwar had been a key obstacle in talks to secure the hostages’ release and a ceasefire in Gaza, and that his killing was an “inflection point” in reaching those goals. However, Kirby noted, talks had yet to be renewed.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Jerusalem was now “cautiously optimistic” that a hostage-ceasefire deal could be reached, but warned that Muhammad Sinwar, Yahya’s brother and potential successor, “is no less extreme than his brother,” and that Hamas remains “a murderous terror organization.”

There has been no comment from Hamas’s remaining leadership on speculation that Muhammed Sinwar is preparing to take the reins of the terror group. The Israeli official said Jerusalem is considering seeking separate, smaller deals with various Hamas factions that hold some hostages if there is no central leadership to negotiate with.

The Israeli military said Sinwar was killed in a chance firefight in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Wednesday night, with forces only discovering who they had killed after the fact.

The Times of Israel understands the IDF believes that the terror leader was hiding in Khan Younis earlier in the war, but was driven out by Israeli military pressure, which left him feeling boxed in and forced him to move locations, staying underground as much as possible.

After spending some time in Rafah, the military believes he was likely trying to reach the Al-Mawasi humanitarian area by the coast when he ran into Israeli forces.

Channel 12 reported Friday that Israel believes IDF operations in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood increasingly denied Sinwar more and more locations in which to hide, forcing him to flee.

Forces spotted three terror operatives Wednesday night, firing at them and injuring them. Two headed into one building, and the third, who it later emerged was Sinwar, went into another, the military said. IDF tanks and other forces then opened fire on both buildings.

Sinwar then went up to the second floor. A tank fired another shell at the building, and an infantry platoon moved up to search it. Sinwar threw two grenades, one of which exploded. The soldiers withdrew, and a drone flew in to search the room. It found a man with his arm injured and his face covered — Sinwar — who threw a wooden stick at the drone. A video published by the army on Thursday showed this moment.

Another tank shell was then fired at the building, killing the Hamas leader.

Sinwar was the architect of the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

The Walla news site reported Friday that Sinwar’s body had been moved to a secret location inside Israel after undergoing an autopsy at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute overnight.

According to the report, the autopsy confirmed that Sinwar had been killed by a bullet to the head and shell fire.

Walla added that the forensic institute is waiting for the findings of additional tests to determine whether there were drugs or other unusual substances in his blood at the time of his death.

Agencies contributed to this report.