Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza chief and the younger brother of the Palestinian militant group’s deceased leader and mastermind of the October 2023 attack, Yahya Sinwar, had been killed. Hamas has yet to confirm Mohammad Sinwar’s death.
He had been the target of an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza earlier this month and Netanyahu said on May 21 that it was likely he was dead.
The Israeli leader announced that Sinwar had been “eliminated” in an address to the Israeli parliament as he listed off names of other Hamas officials that Israel had killed over the past 20 months, including Sinwar’s brother Yahya.
“In the last two days we have been in a dramatic turn towards a complete defeat of Hamas,” he said, adding that Israel was also “taking control of food distribution”, a reference to a new aid distribution system in Gaza managed by a US-backed group.
Netanyahu’s announcement comes as the Israeli military has intensified its war campaign in Gaza after breaking a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in March. Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir on May 26 said Hamas had lost many assets, including its command and control centre.
Sinwar was elevated to the top ranks of the Palestinian militant group last year after Israel killed his brother Yahya in combat.He was later named the overall leader of the group after Israel killed his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
