Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Mohammad Sinwar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza and the younger brother of the late Yahya Sinwar, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Speaking before the Knesset, Netanyahu said Mohammad Sinwar died as a result of a targeted Israeli attack earlier this month on a hospital in southern Gaza. His death, the Prime Minister asserted, marks a significant development in Israel's campaign to dismantle Hamas’s leadership.
“This represents a dramatic shift toward the total defeat of Hamas,” Netanyahu said, referencing the recent elimination of numerous high-ranking figures within the group, including Yahya Sinwar, widely believed to have orchestrated the October 2023 assault on Israel.
Hamas has not yet officially acknowledged Mohammad Sinwar’s death.
The announcement follows a surge in Israeli military operations throughout Gaza, reignited by the breakdown of a fragile ceasefire earlier in the year. Israel has stated its objectives are to destroy Hamas’s infrastructure and secure the release of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
The current war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack on southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 civilians and kidnapping over 250 people. The conflict has since evolved into one of the most destructive in the region’s history.
According to health authorities in Gaza, over 53,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israeli military action, with more than two million people displaced. While the majority of those killed are said to be civilians, Israel maintains that it has eliminated tens of thousands of Hamas fighters, though it has not presented supporting evidence.
Israeli defense officials claim that Hamas has suffered substantial losses, including the destruction of key operational sites and command centers. Mohammad Sinwar had become a central figure within the group after the death of his brother Yahya, who assumed leadership following the killing of former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.
As the war continues with no end in sight, international efforts to negotiate a ceasefire have so far failed to produce lasting results, raising alarm over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
