Israel says Hamas Gaza chief Sinwar’s body identified 4 hours ago Aleks Phillips BBC News Sebastian Usher BBC News Reporting from Jerusalem The Israeli military has said it has located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, the military leader of Palestinian armed group Hamas in Gaza.
His body was discovered in a tunnel underneath the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday.
Sinwar, 49, was killed in an air strike on 13 May, which the Hamas-run civil defence agency said killed 28 people and injured dozens.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals as hiding places for weapons and command centres, which the group denies.
Mohammed Sinwar joined Hamas shortly after its founding in the late 1980s and became a member of the group’s military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Israel claims that the body of Hamas Gaza leader Sinwar has been identified.
four hours prior.
Aleks Phillips.
The BBC News.
Usher, Sebastian.
NBC News.
reporting from Jerusalem. .
Mohammed Sinwar was the military leader of the Palestinian armed group Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli military claims to have found and identified his body.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported on Sunday that his body had been found in a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Although Hamas has not openly acknowledged his passing, it claimed to have used DNA testing to confirm the identity of the body.
The civil defense agency run by Hamas reported that Sinwar, 49, was killed in an airstrike on May 13 that left 28 people dead and numerous others injured.
The IDF reported that Sinwar’s body was discovered next to that of Mohammad Sabaneh, who was in charge of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade.
Along with other intelligence findings that were transferred for additional investigation, it also stated that “several items belonging to Sinwar and Sabaneh were located.”.
According to the IDF, additional bodies were discovered, and they were being identified.
On Sunday, a small group of international journalists were shown the tunnel by traveling to Khan Younis in Gaza.
Additionally, a video of the tunnel’s tiny entrance—which is reachable through recently excavated ground directly in front of the European Hospital—was published.
The video reveals a lengthy, slender subterranean passageway that opens into multiple rooms.
There are visible piles of plastic chairs and clothing inside some of them, along with a rifle resting against the wall. A body in a shroud is also seen in one video being hauled out of the tunnel by a rope.
According to IDF spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin, the body of the Sinwar was discovered in one of the rooms.
He said, “This is just another instance of Hamas’s cynical use, using civilians as human shields, using civilian infrastructure, hospitals, etc., repeatedly.”.
Hamas denies the accusations made by Israel that it uses hospitals as command centers and hiding places for weapons.
Gaza’s health system is in danger of collapsing because the IDF has attacked and besieged hospitals there or ordered their evacuation.
Because so many hospitals and medical facilities have been rendered inoperable and the lives of patients and staff at risk, these attacks have raised serious concerns on a global scale.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed his profound alarm and stated that the “wounded and sick, medical personnel and medical facilities, including hospitals, must be respected and protected” under international humanitarian law in a statement following an Israeli strike on al-Ahli hospital in April.
In Gaza, medical personnel have also denied on numerous occasions that Hamas is utilizing their facilities as a base.
The IDF will use this most recent video as evidence to support its assertions and military approach.
However, there is no way to fully verify independently, as is the case with so much in Gaza.
Following the historic cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage, Israel began a military campaign in Gaza.
Since then, the health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, has reported that at least 54,880 people have died there.
A cease-fire and hostage-exchange agreement collapsed a few months ago, and now there is new fighting in Gaza.
Since then, Israel has reiterated its determination to eliminate Hamas and free the hostages, of whom 23 are believed to still be alive and 54 are still in captivity.
Mohammed Sinwar joined Hamas soon after its formation in the late 1980s and joined the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing.
As he advanced through the ranks, he was appointed Khan Younis Brigade commander in 2005.
Sinwar was also said to have been involved in the planning of the October 7 attack and to have been close to Mohammed Deif, another of Hamas’s former military leaders.
Yahya Sinwar, his brother and predecessor, was killed by Israeli troops last October. He is thought to have been one of the masterminds behind the October 7 attack.
