According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli army has killed Mohammed Sinwar, the alleged leader of the radical Islamist Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. "We expelled the terrorists from our territory, forcibly entered the Gaza Strip, eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, eliminated Mohammed Sinwar," Netanyahu said Wednesday at a session of the Israeli parliament.
Mohammed Sinwar is the brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the Israeli army in mid-October. According to Israeli media reports, Mohammed Sinwar was hit in Israeli airstrikes on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 13. The Israeli army said it had attacked an underground "Hamas command and control center" beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis.
The radical Islamic Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, initially did not react to Netanyahu's announcement. Yahya Sinwar was accused by Israel of planning the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. According to Islamism experts, Mohammed Sinwar led the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.
Following the deaths of several Hamas leaders in the past 19 months, these experts say Mohammed Sinwar played a key role in decisions regarding indirect negotiations with Israel regarding the release of Israeli hostages.
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