Born near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Mr. Meshal became the leader of Hamas’s political office in 1996, directing the group from exile. Two years later, Israeli agents injected him with a slow-acting poison in Jordan, sending him into a coma before he was saved by an antidote provided by Israel as part of a diplomatic deal with Jordan.

The U.S. military said on Thursday its forces had no role in the Israeli operation that killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, even if U.S. intelligence has contributed to Israel's understanding of Hamas leaders who took hostages last year.

Israel's military said Thursday it may have killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. In short statement, Israel's Defense Forces said that during operations in the Gaza Strip it had killed three Hamas militants and it was investigating whether one of them was Sinwar.