Identification complete: Body of Mohammed Sinwar is in Israeli hands
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Israeli military recovers body of elusive Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar
The Israeli military recovered the body of de facto Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar in a tunnel underneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday. Sinwar was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Younis on May 13, a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander. It took more than two weeks for Israel to say that it had definitively killed Sinwar. His death marks the latest in a string of assassinations that have dealt a serious blow to the group’s top brass.
The Israeli military recovered the body of de facto Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar in a tunnel underneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday.
The IDF said it made the announcement after the body went through an identification process.
Sinwar is the younger brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the Israeli military in southern Gaza in October.
His death marks the latest in a string of assassinations that have dealt a serious blow to the group’s top brass but are yet to break its grip on power in the besieged enclave.
The elusive Sinwar was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Younis on May 13, a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander.
At the time, the IDF said it had struck “Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control center” in underground infrastructure at the hospital.
But it took more than two weeks for Israel to say that it had definitively killed Sinwar in the strike.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on the 600th day of the war two weeks ago.
“We changed the face of the Middle East, we pushed the terrorists from our territories, we entered the Gaza Strip with force, we eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, we eliminated (Mohammad) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,” Netanyahu said in a speech at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
The attack killed 28 Palestinians and wounded more than 50 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said after the strike.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Israel military says it has identified the body of Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar
Former NZ PM Helen Clark joins former world leaders calling for end of war in Gaza. The Israeli military said on Sunday it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar. Sinwar was said to have been killed in an attack on Khan Younis’ European Hospital on May 13.
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The Israeli military said on Sunday it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, three weeks after he was said to have been killed in an airstrike.
“In a targeted operation of the IDF [military] … and following the completion of an identification process, it is now confirmed that the body of Mohammed Sinwar was located in the underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis,” the army said in a statement.
The army said Sinwar was “eliminated”, along with several other members of the militant group, on May 13.
Sinwar was targeted in an attack on Khan Younis’ European Hospital on May 13. Photo / Ahmad Salem / Bloomberg via Getty Images
“During searches in the underground tunnel route, several items belonging to Sinwar … were located, along with additional intelligence findings that were transferred for further investigation,” the military said.
Hamas chief ‘The Shadow’ WAS killed in airstrike on Gaza hospital, IDF confirms – as it releases footage of secret tunnels
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on the 600th day of the war two weeks ago. He said: ‘We changed the face of the Middle East, we pushed the terrorists from our territories, we entered the Gaza Strip with force, we eliminated (Mohammad) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar’ IDF said it had struck ‘Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control centre’ in underground infrastructure at the hospital. IDF wrote: ‘Mohammad Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of countless civilians. He was eliminated in an IDF & ISA strike on May 13. His body was found beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis – more proof of how Sinwar, and Hamas, hide behind their civilians and purposely embed themselves in civilian areas, such as hospitals’ IDF released footage of the discovery of the body in a tunnel beneath a hospital in southern Gaza. The body was seen on the ground in a room beneath the Gaza hospital which was targeted in an airstrike.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed that Hamas chief Mohammed Sinwar was killed in a strike on the European hospital in southern Gaza as it released footage of his body being discovered in secret tunnels.
The de facto Hamas leader, 49, was eliminated in an IDF strike on May 13 with Israel on Sunday recovering his body from a tunnel in Khan Yunis.
The IDF said it made the announcement after the body had gone through an identification process, with the military sharing on X Sinwar’s alleged Israeli and Hamas documentation, as well as his driver’s license.
In bodycam footage of the find also posted to X, a soldier enters a deep tunnel outside the medical facility before making their way down a dim corridor.
They stumble into a packed out room filled with what appears to be guns and ammunition before panning the camera to find Sinwar’s camouflaged body on the ground.
The IDF member then makes their way through several other tunnels which lead to dark rooms filled with equipment.
The IDF wrote: ‘Mohammad Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of countless civilians. He was eliminated in an IDF & ISA strike on May 13.
‘His body was found beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis – more proof of how Sinwar, and Hamas, hide behind their civilians and purposely embed themselves in civilian areas, such as hospitals.
The IDF on Sunday released footage of the discovery of Mohammed Sinwar’s body in a tunnel beneath a hospital in southern Gaza
The de facto Hamas leader’s body was seen on the ground in a room beneath the Gaza hospital which was targeted in an airstrike on May 13
The rooms beyond the tunnels were seen packed with weapons and other military equipment
The IDF said: ‘His body was found beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis – more proof of how Sinwar, and Hamas, hide behind their civilians and purposely embed themselves in civilian areas, such as hospitals’
The head of Hamas ‘s military wing, Mohammad Sinwar, has been ‘eliminated’ in a massive air strike in Gaza
Mohammad Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of countless civilians. He was eliminated in an IDF & ISA strike on May 13.
His body was found beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis—more proof of how Sinwar, and Hamas, hide behind their civilians and purposely embed… pic.twitter.com/HVSVkCgo1x — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 8, 2025
‘He died the way he lived -underground’.
Sinwar, nicknamed ‘The Shadow’ and ‘The Butcher of Khan Younis’, was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Yunis on May 13, just a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander.
At the time, the IDF said it had struck ‘Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control centre’ in underground infrastructure at the hospital.
Yet, it took over two weeks for Israel to confirm it had definitely killed Sinwar in the strike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on the 600th day of the war two weeks ago.
‘We changed the face of the Middle East, we pushed the terrorists from our territories, we entered the Gaza Strip with force, we eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, we eliminated (Mohammad) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,’ he said in a speech at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
The attack killed 28 Palestinians and wounded more than 50 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said after the strike.
Hamas apparently hid Sinwar’s body in a tunnel to prevent Israel verifying his death and to ensure he could receive a high-profile funeral at a time of the group’s choosing.
According to Israeli reports, its military took advantage of Sinwar briefly separating himself from some of the hostages who remain in Hamas custody following the atrocities of October 7, 2023.
Sinwar, nicknamed ‘The Shadow’ and ‘The Butcher of Khan Younis’, was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Yunis on May 13, just a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander
In bodycam footage of the find also posted to X, a soldier enters a deep tunnel outside the medical facility before making their way down a dim corridor
At the time, the IDF said it had struck ‘Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control centre’ in underground infrastructure at the hospital
An Israeli soldier guards at a tunnel, where the Israeli army believes to be Hamas leaders underground infrastructure while escorting members of the press near the Gaza European Hospital near Khan Yunis on June 8, 2025 in Khan Yunis, Gaza
Israeli soldiers enter a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where the military claims Hamas militants had been operating
Hamas apparently hid Sinwar’s body in a tunnel to prevent Israel verifying his death and to ensure he could receive a high-profile funeral at a time of the group’s choosing
The Hamas-run civil defence said that during the strike six bombs hit the hospital’s inner courtyard and surrounding area, killing 28 people and injuring dozens more
The IDF alleges tunnels under the European Hospital in southern Gaza were used by Hamas as a command center during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, masterminded by Yahya Sinwar
Sinwar used the hostages as human shields, confident Israel would not target him, but he attended talks with Hamas political leaders on May 13 without them.
Word reached Israeli military commanders, and to the surprise of those involved in the operation, authorisation was granted for air strikes close to the hospital.
Mohammed Sinwar took over the leadership of Hamas’s military wing last year following the death of his older brother Yahya.
Remarkable footage recorded by a drone showed Yahya sitting in an armchair in the devastated remains of a multi-storey building following an air strike in October.
He appeared to wave a piece of floorboard in defiance at the reconnaissance drone. Minutes later an air strike reduced the structure to rubble.
Israeli soldiers subsequently dragged Yahya’s body from the rubble.
His death was a watershed moment for the country as he was the main planner behind the October 7 attacks which killed 1,200 people and resulted in 250 hostages being taken into Gaza.
The atrocity triggered Israel’s retaliatory assault on the Occupied Palestinian Territories which has cost more than 50,000 lives, led to two million people being displaced and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
Mohammad Sinwar was the brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (pictured), who was killed by the IDF in October last year
Pictured: Yahya Sinwar throwing a stick at a drone moments before his death last year
Israel said it targeted a Hamas ‘command and control centre’ under a hospital, but has not confirmed whether Sinwar was killed in that strike. Pictured: Palestinians inspect the damage, after the European Hospital was partially damaged in Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 13
The celebration in Israel surrounding Mohammed Sinwar’s death came amid shocking scenes of humanitarian aid centres being over-run and crowds looting boxes of desperately needed supplies in Gaza.
Controversially, Israel has sidelined the major international aid agencies and set up its own distribution system in conjunction with the US.
It said it did not want Hamas to intercept aid meant for Gaza residents.
Opponents of Israel have accused the country of orchestrating the provision of lifesaving supplies effectively to enable ethnic cleansing.