Israel has targeted Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar in a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday evening, according to a senior Israeli official and two sources familiar with the matter.
He became the militant group’s de facto leader after the Israeli military killed his brother, Yahya Sinwar, last October.
Tuesday’s strike killed six Palestinians and wounded at least 40 more, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it carried out a strike on the European hospital in Khan Younis, targeting “Hamas terrorists in a command and control center” in underground infrastructure beneath the hospital. The IDF did not identify the target of the strike.
Multiple airstrikes hit the yard of the hospital, according to Dr. Saleh Al Hams, the head of nursing. Some people are buried under the rubble, he said, calling it “a catastrophe.” Medical teams tried to move patients to safe units inside the hospital.
Video from the scene showed towering pillars of smoke and dust from what appeared to be some of the largest strikes in Gaza in recent weeks.
Hamas rejected any Israeli claims about Sinwar, saying in a statement, “The Palestinian resistance alone, through its official platforms, is the authority authorized to confirm or deny what is published.”
On Tuesday night, the IDF said it intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza, in what appears to be the first launch from the besieged territory in a month. A third rocket landed in an open area. The military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they fired at Israeli cities near Gaza.
A short time later, Israel issued evacuation warnings for the Jabalya refugee camp and nearby areas in northern Gaza, saying the IDF will “strike and operate in every location from which rockets are fired.”
The targeting of Sinwar comes one day after Hamas released Israeli American Edan Alexander in what was a goodwill gesture to the United States. The deal for a single hostage’s release sidelined Israel, as Hamas communicated with the Trump administration.
The US expressed some optimism about negotiations set to take place in Qatar with President Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff in the Middle East. Before leaving Israel, Witkoff promised the families of the hostages that he “will be relentless on that pursuit.”
But with negotiations about to start in Doha – and with an Israeli team en route – the targeting of Sinwar means Israel has just attempted to kill Hamas’ key decision maker needed to seal any potential agreement.
Israeli officials considered Mohammed Sinwar just as hardline as his brother, Yahya, but much more experienced militarily. According to the IDF, he commanded the Khan Younis Brigade until 2016. Like Yahya, he is believed to be one of the main planners of the October 7 terror attack on Israel.
Since the start of the war, he has remained hidden, along with many of Hamas’ senior leaders in Gaza. In December 2023, the IDF released video of what they said was Mohammed Sinwar driving through a tunnel in Gaza. In February 2024, the IDF said they had located his office in western Khan Younis.
But even if Sinwar is dead, it could take some time before Israel says officially that it has killed him, and even longer for Hamas to acknowledge his death. In mid-July, Israel said it had targeted Mohammed Deif in a strike on a designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza. It took until August, more than two weeks later, for the IDF to declare it had indeed killed Deif. Hamas did not confirm his death until the end of January, nearly six months later.
Second Sinwar targeted
Before October, it was primarily Yahya Sinwar who was in the crosshairs of the Israeli military. Imprisoned for four life sentences in 1988, Yahya became fluent in Hebrew and said he spent his years studying his enemy. He was released in 2011 as part of the deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for five years. His release has been attributed to the fact that his brother Mohammed was one of Shalit’s kidnappers and insisted on Yahya’s inclusion in the deal.
Back in Gaza, Yahya quickly rose through the ranks of the militant organization, ultimately becoming its leader
After October 7, Yahya became Israel’s most wanted man, and the IDF searched for him in the tiny coastal enclave. US officials believed Israel had come close to Yahya more than once, flushing him out of underground hiding places.
But Yahya moved undetected in the tunnels under Gaza, rarely coming above ground and avoiding detection by Israel’s electronic surveillance. Ultimately, it was a routine Israeli patrol in Gaza which engaged in a firefight in Rafah in southern Gaza that discovered Yahya’s body in Rafah.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
