Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Wednesday that the leader of the Hamas movement, Mohammed Sinwar, was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on May 13.
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that there were increasingly strong indications of Sinwar’s death. The IDF had launched a large number of bombs on a tunnel system under a hospital in Gaza on May 13, aiming to target Sinwar. According to reports, Sinwar’s body was found along with around a dozen of his advisors, including Mohammed Shabanah, who was considered a likely successor. Despite the initial reluctance to officially confirm Sinwar’s death, IDF sources had hinted early on that he was very likely dead.
Mohammed Sinwar had taken over the leadership of Hamas after his brother Yahya Sinwar was killed in October 2024. Shabanah would have been a leading candidate to replace him as the military leader of Hamas. Of the original five brigade commanders of Hamas before the war, it is now likely that only the commander of the Gaza City Brigade, Az-adin-al-Hadad, is still alive, making him a potential next military chief of Hamas.