Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Hamas’ Gaza chief Muhammad Sinwar has been killed by Israel’s army. There were reports of the Hamas chief being grievously injured in a massive airstrike by Israel on May 14. At the time the Israel Defence Forces or IDF was not in a position to confirm if the strike had killed the top militant.
Muhammad Sinwar was the brother of former Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in a clash with the Israeli military in October 2024. Yahya Sinwar had masterminded the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel, which resulted in the war in Gaza. Yahya had been named the overall leader of Hamas after Israel killed his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Muhammad Sinwar was elevated to the post after Yahya was killed too.
Muhammad Sinwar, one of the last remaining top commanders of Hamas in Gaza, was at an underground facility which the militant group was using as a command centre when Israel’s defence forces struck it in a precision drone strike on May 14.
The command centre was located under the European Hospital in Khan Younis. Israel’s military had released a video of the aftermath of the precision strike, in which it showed a tunnel under the hospital, leading to the Hamas facility.
צה”ל ושב”כ השמידו תשתית טרור תת-קרקעית של ארגון הטרור חמאס מתחת לבית החולים האירופאי שבחאן יונס שבדרום רצועת עזה
מתחילת המלחמה, צה”ל ושב”כ פועלים להשמדה ונטרול של תשתיות תת-קרקע של ארגון הטרור חמאס ברצועת עזה.
מוקדם יותר היום, צה”ל ושב”כ תקפו באופן ממוקד מחבלים בארגון הטרור… pic.twitter.com/gdLAJOpWJ4
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 13, 2025
“We eliminated Muhammad Sinwar,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said, speaking in Hebrew from the stage at the Knesset – Israel’s parliament. He added that “We (Israel) had eliminated Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and now Muhammad Sinwar.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu confirms from the Knesset stage, “We eliminated Muhammad Sinwar” pic.twitter.com/tmkMxMu1Sw
— הרדאר The Radar (@haradar10) May 28, 2025
Throughout the war, Israel has methodically eliminated Hamas’s leadership, killing Yahya Sinwar along with Muhammad Deif, the head of its military wing; Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s political chief; and numerous others.
Muhammad Sinwar was elevated to the top ranks of the Palestinian militant group last year after Israel killed his elder brother Yahya in combat during the ongoing war in Gaza.