Israel Targeted Hamas Leader Mohammed Sinwar in Gaza Airstrike

Israel's military targeted Hamas's top leader in Gaza on Tuesday in an airstrike, which if successful would mark an important military victory at a time when the country is under pressure to wrap up its 18-month-long war in the enclave.

- Carrie Keller-Lynn & Abeer Ayyoub

An Israeli official said the strike was aimed at Mohammed Sinwar, who effectively took over as the head of Hamas in Gaza after Israel killed his brother, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in October. The strike hit an underground site near the European Hospital in Khan Younis, targeting a Hamas command and control facility, Israel's military said. Gaza's health ministry said six people were killed and more than 40 injured as a result of the strike. It could take days for Israel to determine whether the strike was successful in killing Sinwar, said another official.

Hamas didn't mention Sinwar in a statement sent after the strike but said the Israeli claim that it uses hospitals for military purposes are "nothing but lies and deliberate attempts to mislead international public opinion—a repeated tactic used to justify attacks on the health sector and the killing and terrorizing of innocent civilians in Gaza."

Mohammed Sinwar was responsible for building up Hamas's military wing, and was close to the U.S.-designated terrorist group's top military commander, Mohammed Deif, who was killed by Israel last year. His brother Yahya was the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that launched the war. Israel killed three of Yahya Sinwar's top deputies throughout the war, including Deif. Israel also killed Hamas's political head Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last year.