Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, said on Wednesday that Gaza’s Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar had been killed by Israel’s armed forces. According to reports, the Hamas chief was badly injured in a huge airstrike by Israel on May 14. At that time, the Israel Defence Forces could not confirm that the strike had killed the top militant.
His brother Yahya Sinwar had been Hamas’ chief before he died in a confrontation with the Israeli military in October 2024. Thanks to Yahya Sinwar, the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel was carried out and triggered the war in Gaza. Yahya rose to the top position in Hamas after Israel killed Ismail Haniyeh, the previous head, in Iran. After Yahya was killed, Muhammad Sinwar stepped into the position.
Muhammad Sinwar, a leading Hamas commander in Gaza, was at a secret command centre operated by Hamas near Zeitoun in Gaza City when it was attacked in an airstrike by Israeli aircraft on May 14.
Under the European Hospital in Khan Younis was where the command centre was built. After the strike, the military in Israel released images of the area, revealing a tunnel leading to the Hamas compound beneath the hospital.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Knesset in Hebrew that we were responsible for taking out Muhammad Sinwar. He also said, “Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar and now Muhammad Sinwar have all been killed by Israel.”
The last two days have seen a strong move toward a total defeat of Hamas, Mr Netanyahu said, adding that Israel now had responsibility for arranging food distribution after a US-supported aid system in Gaza.
Since the war began, Israel has systematically got rid of Hamas’s leaders, killing Yahya Sinwar along with Muhammad Deif, whilst Muhammad Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh are out of the picture. Israel has declared it hopes to weaken Hamas, destroy their military capacities and free all remaining hostages taken in Gaza.
in October 2023, at the time Hamas-led attackers escaped from Gaza, raided communities in southern Israel and murdered close to 1,200 people, most of them being civilians. There were more than 250 captives moved into Gaza and used as hostages.
Muhammad Sinwar rose to leadership in his Palestinian group last year, as his brother Yahya was killed by Israel in the fighting in Gaza. There is still no word from Hamas about Muhammad Sinwar’s passing.
Sinwar was the younger sibling of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas commander in Gaza that Israel believes orchestrated the Hamas-led attack on Israel that left nearly 1,200 people dead. Israel killed Yahya Sinwar in October of last year and then Mohammed Sinwar took over as a senior commander in Gaza.
Air strikes on May 13 led to the deaths of at least 16 people and left more than 70 wounded. According to security sources cited in the media, Mohammed Sinwar was supposedly in a tunnel under the site at the time, along with ten other militants.
Hamas has not yet confirmed whether the strike led to the death of Sinwar, who has escaped attempts to assassinate him before.
Israel commemorates the conquest of Jerusalem, members of the far-right attack Hamas
Groups of Israeli extremists chanted insulting slogans and attacked Palestinians during a Jerusalem Day parade on Monday.
People chanted “death to Arabs” and other nationalistic slogans during the event which honors Israeli forces gaining control of Jewish-majority West Jerusalem in 1967.
Ultranationalist Jews caused violence when they entered Palestinian areas of Jerusalem’s walled Old City.
Yair Lapid, the Opposition Leader, said the event had become a place for hatred and racism, describing it as both a disgrace and an insult to Jewish beliefs.
Shortly after midday, Israeli police were sent to the walled Old City of Occupied East Jerusalem when violence erupted.
Hundreds of nationalist Israelis wanted to show their support by arriving at Damascus Gate, a major entrance. Those present at the protest carried banners that said “Jerusalem is ours 1967, Gaza is ours 2025”.
Young Israelis harassed Arab traders in the Muslim Quarter, who were still trying to close their shops, claimed witnesses.
People could hear people chanting “May your village burn” and “Your home will belong to us” all along the march.
Those marching too closely to the border were held back and escorted out of the Old City by Israeli police.
Ben Gvir, who holds the national security portfolio for Jewish Power, urged that terrorists receive the death penalty during his address at the rally.
Gvir paid a visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound which is considered the third most holy Islamic site and what Jews call the Temple Mount. The location of two Biblical Temples, the Temple Mount is where Jews focus their greatest religious respect.
The compound is operated under management by a trust belonging to Jordan’s Islamic community. You can visit the site, but you cannot offer prayers when there.
The spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, operating from the West Bank, denounced the march and Ben Gvir’s trip to Al-Aqsa.
The spokesman said that Israel’s fighting in Gaza, regular visits to the Al-Aqsa mosque and placing its flag in occupied Jerusalem are creating instability across the area.
At a cabinet gathering on Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that Jerusalem would be “united, whole and remain under Israeli authority”.
Palestinians hope to have Jerusalem as their capital city and most of the world’s nations view East Jerusalem as an area under Israeli occupation.
This year’s Flag March was also held as the war in Gaza continued and Israeli forces increased actions against Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
Israel began a military operation against Gaza after Hamas attacked its border on 7 October 2023 and about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were captured. There are still 57 refugees in Iran, of them, roughly 20 are thought to be alive.
The territory’s health ministry says that at least 53,939 people and 16,500 of them children, have been killed in Gaza since that date.
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