Sinwar, 49, was presumed to have taken over the command of Hamas in Gaza following the killing by the IDF of his older brother Yahya – who orchestrated the October 7 massacre – in October last year.
The Israelis are thought to have used bunker-busting bombs to collapse tunnels they believed Sinwar was hiding in near the European hospital two weeks ago.
The attack came in several waves to ensure no one could escape from the complex and no one was able to approach to conduct a rescue.
It is unlikely that the IDF will have been able to access the site to physically confirm the death.
In the past, Israeli intelligence has confirmed killings through communication intercepts, among other means.
Assessing the likelihood that the terror chief was close to any of the remaining 20 living hostages at the time of the strike will have been a key factor for Israeli commanders.
Addressing the Knesset, Netanyahu said: “We have eliminated Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and Mohammed Sinwar,” a reference to Hamas’ three major leaders in the strip.
Reports have suggested the younger Sinwar was taking a hard-line approach in negotiations conducted by Hamas representatives in Doha and Cairo.
Israel hopes that eliminating Hamas’ military and political command network, and distributing aid in a way that excludes them, will finally lead to the defeat of the terrorist group.
But the scenes of chaos on Tuesday, the first day of the new Israeli-US distribution system, have called the new system into question.
There were reports that Hamas attempted to sabotage the operation by setting up roadblocks and spreading rumours that the Israelis were arresting people, as well as distributing aid itself in the Al-Mawasi area.
The attempts appear to have failed. However, the distribution centre in Rafah seemed to have been overrun with desperate Gazans on Tuesday.
The UN accused Israeli soldiers of firing near the civilians, while Gaza’s health ministry, which is under the control of Hamas, said the gunfire killed one and injured 48.
The IDF later confirmed it had fired “warning shots” outside the compound.
It came as UN trucks were reportedly looted overnight.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, confusion appeared to continue after the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – the US company distributing the aid – was reported to have stopped operations because of disorder concerns, only for the reports to be denied elsewhere.
The IDF later said Hamas, falsely claiming to be the foundation, had misled the media into reporting that aid distribution had ceased.
Until last week, no aid had entered Gaza since early March, with Israel claiming that much of it had been diverted to help Hamas rebuild.
The UN and other NGOs have refused to work with the new system because they say it offends basic humanitarian principles, such as forcing people to walk relatively long distances to collect the aid.
On Wednesday, Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, described the stance as “sad and disgusting”.
