Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Mohammad Sinwar, a senior Hamas commander and younger brother of the late Yahya Sinwar, has been killed in Gaza. Mohammad Sinwar was one of the terror group’s most wanted figures and was believed to be a key mastermind behind the October 7 attacks.
Netanyahu confirmed Sinwar’s death while addressing parliament, reading out a list of Hamas leaders eliminated in recent Israeli strikes: “We eliminated Mohammad Sinwar.”
Reports indicate Sinwar was likely killed in an Israeli airstrike on May 13, targeting Hamas’ command centre beneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reportedly used bunker-busting bombs to destroy the underground complex, with Hamas reporting that at least 40 people were injured in the attack.
Earlier this month, Defence Minister Israel Katz revealed that Sinwar’s body had been found in a tunnel in Khan Younis. Sinwar had taken over command of Hamas’ military wing following the death of his older brother Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the IDF in October 2024.
Netanyahu told parliament, “We have eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists including Mohammad Deif, Hassan Nasrallah, Yahya Sinwar, and Mohammad Sinwar, and seized the Rafah and Morag crossings.” He added that Israel is executing a “dramatic plan” aimed at Hamas’s complete defeat, including controlling their food and financial resources to cripple the group’s governance.
Following Sinwar’s confirmed death, experts warn of a potential power struggle within Hamas between its military and political wings. Sinwar had assumed full leadership of the terror group after the death of Mohammad Deif in July 2024, and was a key figure behind the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, which ultimately led to a prisoner swap.
Alongside Izz al-Din Haddad, Sinwar was considered Hamas’s most senior commander in Gaza and influential in hostage negotiations. Hamas currently holds 58 Israeli hostages, with about 21 believed to be alive.
Mohammad Sinwar, nicknamed “The Shadow” due to his secretive nature, was thought to be in his early 50s and deeply embedded in Hamas’s military operations. His older brother, Yahya Sinwar, was known as “Gaza’s Bin Laden” for his brutal reputation.
The announcement of Sinwar’s death comes amid reports of desperate scenes at a US and Israel-backed humanitarian aid site in Gaza, where thousands of civilians overwhelmed the distribution centre shortly after it opened, forcing aid workers to withdraw for safety.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation described the situation as chaotic, with crowds breaking through fences and shots reportedly fired as people scrambled for aid.
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