Dramatic new video shows Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar’s body being pulled from tunnels beneath a Gaza hospital where he was hiding when it was pounded by air strikes.
Israeli soldiers wearing body cameras can be seen hoisting out a white body bag attached to a stretcher in the grim footage shared Sunday by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The rotting corpse of Sinwar — the de facto leader of the terror group — was found lying on a filthy mattress in a small room connected by tunnels around 25 feet below the hospital in Khan Yunis, almost a month after it was struck on May 13.
Several identification cards for Sinwar. @IDF/X
Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar’s underground lair near a Gaza hospital. @IDF/XAlong with the strong smell of death, mattresses covered with clothes and bottles were discovered in the rancid tunnels, the Times of Israel reported.
“Mohammad Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of countless civilians,” the IDF wrote on X of the Hamas leader, whose brother, Yahya Sinwar, masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
“He died the way he lived — underground.”
DNA tests confirmed the body was Sinwar, the IDF said Sunday, while also sharing documentation, including a driver’s license, found with his name.
The moment the IDF hauls the body of Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar out of his underground lair near a Gaza hospital. @IDF/XInside the tunnels, troops found two stolen IDF-issued guns, explosives, maps and operational plans, according to the Israeli military.
It is likely that some of the Israeli hostages taken in October 2023 were held in the tunnels at some point, the IDF claimed.
Sinwar is believed to have died of asphyxiation after bombing raids caused the tunnel network he was hiding in to collapse, along with four other Hamas operatives, two of which are yet to be identified, the IDF said.
Sinwar’s body was stuffed into a white body bag, attached to a small stretcher and hoisted out of a huge crater next to the hospital. IDFHe became the effective leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and chief of its armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, following the assassination of his brother.
The IDF celebrated the confirmation of Sinwar’s death on Sunday.
“The terrorists we took out are important, but not as much as the weapons and intelligence that we took out from here,” an unnamed IDF commander told the Times of Israel.
The underground lair seen in footage. @IDF/XThe commander also claimed that the IDF had discovered proof that the Hamas leader was coordinating operations from underneath the European Union-funded hospital, the bombardment of which sparked widespread controversy.
“We found a military base under a hospital, period. There’s no other way to describe it,” the commander said. “We also found intelligence on hostages. That’s the biggest. That’s why we’re all here.”
