Body of Hamas army chief retrieved from tunnel beneath hospital: Israel

Other militants, including another senior leader, also found dead after ops in May

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KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza — The Israeli army said on June 8 that it had retrieved the body of Hamas' military chief Mohammed Sinwar from an underground tunnel beneath a hospital in southern Gaza, following a targeted operation in May.

Another senior Hamas leader, Mohammad Shabana, commander of the Rafah Brigade, was also found dead at the scene along with a number of other militants, who are still being identified, said Brigadier-General Effie Defrin, the Israel Defence Forces spokesman.

Israeli forces gave a small group of foreign reporters a tour of the tunnel that had been uncovered beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, which BG Defrin said was a major command and control compound for Hamas.

"This is another example of the cynical use by Hamas, using civilians as human shields, using civilian infrastructure, hospitals, again and again," he said.