Overview

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset that Sinwar was killed in a May 13 airstrike on a Hamas command center beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
• Israeli military sources say they cannot yet confirm the strike’s success and Hamas has not acknowledged Sinwar’s death.
• Nicknamed “the shadow,” Sinwar led Hamas’s Gaza operations after succeeding his brother Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024.
• His reported elimination follows Israel’s systematic targeting of senior Hamas figures, including Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.
• Analysts warn that removing Sinwar could further complicate U.S. and Arab-backed ceasefire negotiations while Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens under ongoing military operations.