Hamas Gaza leader Mohammad Sinwar has been killed by Israeli troops, the nation’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Sinwar Rose After Brother Yahya Sinwar’s Death
Mohammad Sinwar was promoted to the upper echelons of the Palestinian militant group last year when Israel murdered his brother Yahya Sinwar in battle.
“We eliminated Mohammed Sinwar,” Netanyahu told a parliament plenary session on Wednesday, according to AFP.
Previously, Israeli news media had reported that Sinwar was hit in Israeli air raids in southern Gaza last week. It was not confirmed at the time, however, by the Israeli defence forces.
Hamas Leadership Role After Yahya Sinwar’s Death
Following his brother’s death and that of Hamas’s former leader, Yahya Sinwar, Muhammad became the head of the military wing as well as the political leadership in Gaza.
Born Mohammad Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, he climbed the ranks of Hamas over the course of multiple decades.
Known as “the shadow” by Israeli leaders for his clandestine operations, Sinwar was an integral member of the group. He was implicated in the 2006 kidnapping of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, an operation that would ultimately yield a prisoner exchange agreement in 2011.
Time in Prison and Role in Hamas Military Wing
During his years spent in Palestinian and Israeli prisons, he became close with other Hamas leadership and was part of the military wing of Hamas since 1991.
Mohammad Sinwar was considered the Hamas mastermind who orchestrated the fatal Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023.
There have been previous attempts by Israel to kill Sinwar. In 2014, Hamas reported that Sinwar had perished during the war between Israel and Gaza but later discovered that the report was erroneous.
Ongoing Conflict and Human Toll of the War
Israel has committed to taking over Gaza and battling until Hamas is annihilated or disarmed and forced into exile, and until the militant organization releases the last 58 hostages captured during the Oct. 7, 2023, assault that led to the war.
Hamas-led fighters killed an estimated 1,200 civilians and took hostage 251 individuals in the 2023 attack. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed approximately 54,000 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry says, but the ministry does not make a distinction between civilians and fighters in its death toll, the Associated Press adds.
