3 days Ago
Sinwar, 49, was said to have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on May 13, one that killed 28 and injured dozens more, according to Gaza's civil defense agency. IDF also discovered the body of Mohammad Sabaneh, who commanded Hamas's Rafah Brigade, in the same tunnel. Military equipment and intelligence documents are being investigated as well as the bodies of the fighters.
IDF Exposes Tunnel to Foreign Press
On Sunday, the IDF took a group of foreign journalists to Khan Younis to display the tunnel. The military's video showed a narrow corridor leading to connecting rooms below the hospital. Imagery posted included a gun resting against a wall, plastic chairs, piles of clothing and the retrieval of a body by rope.
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, an IDF spokesman, said Sinwar's body was found in one of the rooms of the tunnel. He accused Hamas of deploying civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as bases for military operations. Israel has long accused Hamas of deploying clinics as cover, a charge that Hamas, as well as some hospital workers, reject.
Conflict and Humanitarian Situation in Gaza - Ongoing
It comes against a backdrop of simmering tension in Gaza. Israel launched its military operation after a large scale cross-border attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Israel has since sought to crush Hamas and free the remaining captives. Of the 54 still in captivity, 23 are suspected to be alive.
At least 54,880 people have died in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, since the conflict began. Israel attacks has alarmed the world, as hospitals are repeatedly targeted, destroyed or shut and patients and staff are put in danger. The United Nations has reinforced that both medical structures and health-care staff are to be protected under international humanitarian law.
Mohammed Sinwar was among the earliest members of Hamas after its founding in the 1980s and worked his way through its ranks, reaching commander of the Khan Younis Brigade in 2005. He had been a key member of the gang, being close to Moahemed Deif, 49, founder and former military chief of Hamas, and had helped plan the October 7 attack. His brother, Yahya Sinwar, who is also a senior Hamas official and was responsible for planning the attack in October, was killed by Israeli forces last year.
