IDFThe Israeli military said it has found and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, a military leader of the Palestinian armed group Hamas in Gaza.
The IDF said on Sunday that his body was found in a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
It said it has verified the identity of the human body through DNA tests – although Hamas has not publicly confirmed his death.
Sinwar, 49, was killed in an air strike on May 13, Hamas-The Civil Defense Agency said the agency killed 28 people and injured dozens of people.
IDFThe IDF said Singwa’s body was found along with Mohammad Sabaneh, commander of the Hamas Dynasty Brigade.
It added: “Several projects belonging to Sinwar and Sabaneh, as well as other intelligent discoveries, were transferred for further investigation”.
The IDF said other bodies were found and it hoped to identify them.
The Israel Defense Force brought a small group of foreign journalists to Gaza on Sunday to show Khan Younis the tunnel.
It also released a video of the tunnel entrance, which is located in front of a European hospital. The footage shows a narrow underground corridor leading to several rooms.
In one of the rooms, they found the body of Mohammed Sinwar, said IDF spokesman Brig Gen Effie DeFrin.
“This is another example of Hamas’ cynically using civilians as human shields, time and time again, hospitals,” he said.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using the hospital as a hiding place for weapons and command centers, which the group denied.
The IDF sieges and attacks on hospitals in Gaza, or orders evacuation, putting the area’s health system on the verge of collapse.
As many hospitals and medical facilities have been banned, this attack has attracted widespread international attention – the lives of patients and employees are at risk.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his profound alarm in a statement following a strike on the Al-Ahli Hospital in April and announced that, under international humanitarian law, “injured and patients, patients, medical personnel and medical institutions, including hospitals, must be respected and protected”.
Hospital staff in Gaza have also repeatedly denied that Hamas is using its facilities as a basis.
The IDF will point out that the latest video is a defense of its claims and military strategy.
However, as with too many in Gaza, a comprehensive independent verification is impossible.
IDFIsrael launched a military campaign in Gaza on October 7, 2023 in response to unprecedented cross-border attacks, with about 1,200 people killed and another 251 people taken hostage.
At least 54,880 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health in the region.
The re-fight in Gaza was in Gaza after the ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement collapsed a few months ago.
Since then, Israel has reiterated its purpose of destroying Hamas and restoring hostages, with 54 still in prison and 23 still alive.
Mohammed Sinwar joined Hamas shortly after its founding in the late 1980s and became a member of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigade, a member of the organization’s military forces.
He was promoted, and by 2005, he became commander of Khan Yunis Brigade.
Sinwar is also reportedly close to Mohammed Deif, former military leader of Hamas, and is involved in the plans for the October 7 attack.
His brother and former Yahya Sinwar (that is believed to be one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack) were killed by Israeli troops last October.
