WARNING: Graphic Content
Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar was likely killed in Israel’s latest offensive in Gaza — with one of his brothers also killed in an airstrike days later, according to reports.
Sinwar, the brother of Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, is dead “based on all indications,” Defense Minister Israel Katz told a closed-door parliamentary meeting, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The terror group’s latest leader was the target of an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) airstrike on a hideout hidden below the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, an Israeli official familiar with the meeting told the paper.
Hamas commander Mohammed Sinwar rides in the front seat of a car traveling in a tunnel under the Gaza Strip in a video released by the IDF on Dec. 17, 2023. Israel Defense Forces
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Khan Younis on May 13, 2025. AP
Smoke rises after an Israel strike on a Hamas underground command center on May 13, 2025. Israel Defense Forces
Hamas-linked health officials say at least 16 people were killed and more than 70 others injured in the attack on Tuesday, but have not confirmed Sinwar was among them.
The Israeli military later bombed the same location to prevent people from approaching the underground compound, according to the Times of Israel.
Sinwar became the de facto leader of Hamas after his brother, Yahya Sinwar, was killed in a routine IDF raid in southern Gaza in October.
Another brother, Zakaria Sinwar, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday night, according to Palestinian reports.
Israeli officials said that as the new Hamas leader, Mohammed Sinwar refused to negotiate for the release of Israeli hostages and thwarted chances to reach a cease-fire deal, the Times of Israel reported.
He spent nine months in Israeli prison in the 1990s and another three years in a Palestinian Authority prison in Ramallah before he escaped in 2000, according to the paper.
The IDF said Sunday it had launched “extensive ground operations throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip” after some 670 airstrikes bombarded Hamas’ key infrastructure like weapons facilities, underground sites, and antitank missile launchers.
Sinwar’s death comes as Israel and Hamas are having informal negotiations on a cease-fire deal that would free the remaining Israeli hostages under an outline drawn up by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
