Israel military says it has identified the body of Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, three weeks after he was said to have been killed in an airstrike.

“In a targeted operation of the IDF [military] ... and following the completion of an identification process, it is now confirmed that the body of Mohammed Sinwar was located in the underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis,” the army said in a statement.

The army said Sinwar was “eliminated”, along with several other members of the militant group, on May 13.

Sinwar was targeted in an attack on Khan Younis' European Hospital on May 13. Photo / Ahmad Salem / Bloomberg via Getty Images

“During searches in the underground tunnel route, several items belonging to Sinwar ... were located, along with additional intelligence findings that were transferred for further investigation,” the military said.

Army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told journalists who were escorted by Israeli forces to the site on Sunday that Sinwar’s body was found “underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room, a compound, a few rooms”.

He added they had confirmed with “DNA checks and other checks” that the body was indeed Mohammed Sinwar’s.

On May 28, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the military had killed Sinwar, the brother of former Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, who was also killed by Israeli forces during the Gaza war.

“We drove the terrorists out of our territory, entered the Gaza Strip with force, eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, eliminated ... Mohammed Sinwar,” Netanyahu said in an address in Israel’s parliament.

Mohammed Sinwar’s older brother, Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, was killed in October 2024.

Experts say it is likely that Mohammed Sinwar took over as the head of the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, after its leader Mohammed Deif was also killed.

After the deaths of several Hamas leaders since October 7, Mohammed Sinwar was thought to be at the heart of decisions on indirect negotiations with Israel, the issue of hostages and the management of Hamas’ armed wing.

Hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, among others.

- Agence France-Presse