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Israeli military says it found, identified Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar's body in Khan Younis
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had announced Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar's killing at the hands of IDF nearly three weeks ago.
The Israel defense forces on Sunday said that it had located and identified the body of Hamas Gaza chief, Mohammed Sinwar, in a tunnel beneath the European hospital in Khan Younis.
The development comes weeks after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Sinwar had been killed in an air strike.
Mohammed Sinwar was elevated to the Palestinian militant group's top rank last year after Israel killed his brother Yahya Sinwar in combat.
Sharing a video of the underground tunnel, the IDF said, "Mohammed 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. He died the way he lived -- underground."
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The Israeli army also posted images of Mohammed Sinwar's Israeli and Hamas documentation, along with his driver's license, to dispel any doubts about his identity.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told reporters that Sinwar's body was found "underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room, a compound, a few rooms".
He added that "DNA checks and other checks" were done to confirm that the mortal remains were indeed those of Mohammed Sinwar.
"We drove the terrorists out of our territory, entered the Gaza Strip with force, eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, eliminated Mohammad Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammad Sinwar," Netanyahu had said while confirming the death to the Israeli parliament.
Who was Mohammed Sinwar?
After the death of his brother, Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israeli forces of being the mastermind behind Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Mohammed Sinwar took over the military and political command of Hamas in Gaza.
Born on September 15, 1975, Sinwar rarely made any public or media appearances. His family was among the millions of Palestinians who escaped the Nakba, or catastrophe, during the birth of Israel in the 1948 war, and settled in the Gaza Strip.
The Sinwar family settled down in Khan Younis and Mohammed received education in a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
In 1987, Sinwar joined Hamas after the militant group's funding was established. He rose through the ranks of the group's armed wing in Khan Younis. Sinwar was also nicknamed "ghost" for surviving multiple assassination attempts by Israeli intelligence.
In 2006, Sinwar was also involved with the abduction of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive for five years and later exchanged in a swap with more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Yahya Sinwar was released among those prisoners.
Hamas sources had told news agency Reuters that Mohammed Sinwar played a key role in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
