Muhammad Sinwar (cropped, Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces eliminated Muhammad Sinwar, the de facto leader of Hamas and younger brother of slain October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar.

The IDF killed Muhammad Sinwar as part of a May 13 airstrike targeting "Hamas terrorists in a command and control center" beneath the European Hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, according to a report earlier this month by Jewish News. Hamas "continues to use hospitals in the Gaza Strip for terrorist activity, demonstrating its cynical and brutal use of the civilian population in the hospital and its surroundings," Jewish News noted at the time. That report went unconfirmed until Wednesday, when Netanyahu announced to the Knesset that the strike had killed Sinwar.

Sinwar's death comes after the IDF in October killed his older brother Yahya Sinwar, a longtime leader of Hamas who orchestrated the terror group's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Muhammad Sinwar effectively took over the leadership role following Yahya Sinwar's death, according to reports.

Hamas has lost more than a dozen other high-ranking officials, including political leader Ismail Haniyeh and military leader Mohammed Deif.

Netanyahu said this month that "there will be no way we will stop the war" until Hamas is completely defeated. Nearly 60 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, with as many as 23 believed to be alive, according to Israeli officials.

Dan Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel under the Obama administration, described Muhammad Sinwar as a major obstacle in peace negotiations.

"There is little chance the war can end before he dies," Shapiro told CNN before Sinwar's death. "His removal could open the door for the release of all hostages and beginning to move toward a post-war future for Gaza without Hamas."

Source link