The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday confirmed that it had eliminated Mohammed Sinwar, the head of the terrorist organization’s “military wing,” in a May 13 strike in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza.
Mohammad Sabaneh, the commander of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, and Mahdi Quara, the commander of Hamas’s South Khan Yunis Battalion, were also eliminated in the strike, according to the military.
Sabaneh was “one of the planners and executors of the brutal Oct. 7 massacre and oversaw the captivity of many hostages in southern Gaza,” while Quara led the terror group’s Nukhba Force before being promoted to commander of the South Khan Yunis Battalion, the IDF said.
Multiple air force jets were involved in the strike on the European Hospital in Al-Fukhari, a town in the Khan Yunis area, employing bunker-busting munitions to penetrate the Hamas compound beneath the facility.
“As part of the preparations for the strike, extensive intelligence measures were taken to enable a precise strike that would mitigate civilian harm to the greatest extent possible,” the military stated on Saturday. “The hospital’s functioning was not affected by the strike,” it added.
The IDF statement noted that Sinwar was “among the most senior and long-serving members of Hamas’s military wing and played a significant role in planning and executing the brutal Oct. 7 massacre,” referring to the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Following the July 13 elimination of Mohammed Deif, Mohammad Sinwar’s brother Yahya Sinwar appointed him as Deif’s successor, making him a central decision-maker regarding Hamas’s strategy and policy, and driving efforts to rebuild its military capabilities, according to the IDF.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed for the first time on Wednesday that Sinwar was eliminated in the May 13 Gaza airstrike.
“We took out Deif, Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,” the prime minister said during a so-called 40-signature debate, which the opposition can call once a month and which the premier is obliged to attend.
“Throughout Israel’s wars, there have never been so many achievements on so many fronts,” Netanyahu said, adding: “We changed the face of the Middle East and established Israel’s status as a regional power.”
On May 18, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told lawmakers of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that “all indications” were that the Israeli Air Force had killed Mohammed Sinwar on May 13.
Sinwar was a senior Hamas commander and brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, who was eliminated by Israeli ground forces on Oct. 16, 2024. Following his brother’s death, Mohammed Sinwar served as the group’s top military leader.
Yahya Sinwar was the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 massacre, during which 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were brutally murdered, thousands more were wounded and 251 were taken hostage, 58 of whom remain in captivity.