Israel says it has killed Hamas leader. Who is Mohammed Sinwar?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to confirm Wednesday that his military forces killed Mohammed Sinwar, the understood leader of Hamas's armed wing.
Speaking before parliament, Netanyahu listed the names of top Hamas leaders that Israeli forces killed since the start of the war.
'We have killed tens of thousands of terrorists. We killed (Mohammed) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,' he said.
Here's what to know about Mohammed Sinwar and his apparent death:
There has been no confirmation from the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group, which is the governing body in Gaza, in response to Israeli claims of Mohammed Sinwar's death.
Israeli news outlets reported that Mohammed Sinwar was targeted in a strike earlier this month that hit what Israeli officials said was Hamas's command center, located beneath a hospital in Khan Younis.
At the time, the Israeli military declined to comment on whether Mohammed was targeted or killed.
At a press conference last week, however, Netanyahu commented on the reports.
'We have eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists. We eliminated the arch-murderers – Deif, Yahya Sinwar and apparently Muhammad Sinwar as well,' Netanyahu said on May 21, in a translated statement provided by his office.
Mohammed Sinwar is the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the infamous former Hamas leader who is often credited as the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which left nearly 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 people taken hostage in Gaza. The attack precipitated the broad retaliatory invasion of the Palestinian territory.
Israeli forces killed Yahya Sinwar in October 2024 and have killed much of Hamas's leadership since the war started.
Mohammed Sinwar is said the be among a small group of top Hamas commanders who knew in advance about the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, according to The Associated Press.
Mohammed Sinwar joined Hamas with his older brother in the late 1980s when the group was initially founded as part of the Muslim Brotherhood. The younger Sinwar joined the military wing of the group, known as the Qassam Brigades.
Mohammed Sinwar, born in 1975, was a teenager at the time. His family had been driven out of modern-day Israel during the 1948 war, and he was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp.
Mohammed Sinwar became a member of the so-called joint chiefs of staff, working closely with the longtime commander, Deif, who was killed in a strike last year. And he participated in the First Intifada, as well as several other operations, including the 2006 attack that led to the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
The Associated Press contributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US-backed Gaza aid centres to close temporarily after 27 killed
Aid centres in hunger-wracked Gaza will temporarily close on Wednesday, a controversial US-backed agency said, with the Israeli army warning roads leading to distribution stations "are considered combat zones". Twenty-seven people were killed in southern Gaza on Tuesday when Israeli troops opened fire near one of the centres operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Israel recently eased its blockade of the Palestinian enclave, but the UN has said the entire population remains at risk of famine. The UN Security Council will vote Wednesday on a resolution calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian access to Gaza, a measure expected to be vetoed by the United States. The GHF said its "distribution centres will be closed for renovation, reorganisation and efficiency improvement work" on Wednesday and would resume operations on Thursday. The Israeli army, which confirmed the temporary closure, warned against travelling "on roads leading to the distribution centres, which are considered combat zones". The GHF, officially a private effort with opaque funding, began operations a week ago but the UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. Following Tuesday's deadly incident near one of GHF's centres, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres decried the killing of Palestinians seeking food aid as "unacceptable". Israeli authorities and the GHF -- which uses contracted US security -- have denied allegations that the Israeli army shot at civilians rushing to pick up aid packages at GHF sites. The Israeli army has said the incident is under investigation. - 'A trap' - At a hospital in southern Gaza, the family of Reem al-Akhras, who was killed in the shooting at Rafah's Al-Alam roundabout near GHF's facility, were beside themselves with grief. "She went to bring us some food, and this is what happened to her," her son Zain Zidan said, his face streaked with tears. Akhras's husband, Mohamed Zidan, said "every day unarmed people" were being killed. "This is not humanitarian aid -- it's a trap." The Israeli military maintains that its forces do not prevent Gazans from collecting aid. Army spokesperson Effie Defrin said the Israeli soldiers had fired towards suspects who "were approaching in a way that endangered" the troops, adding that the "incident is being investigated". UN human rights chief Volker Turk called such attacks against civilians "unconscionable" and said they "constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime". The International Committee of the Red Cross meanwhile said "Gazans face an "unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents". - Relief boat - The United States said Tuesday that a US-backed relief effort in Gaza was succeeding in distributing meals but acknowledged the potential for improvement after the reports of shootings near the GHF centre. A boat organised by an international activist coalition was meanwhile sailing toward Gaza, aiming to deliver aid. The boat from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition departed Sicily Sunday carrying a dozen people, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg, along with fruit juices, milk, tinned food and protein bars. "Together, we can open a people's sea corridor to Gaza," the coalition said. But Israel's military said Tuesday it was ready to "protect" the country's maritime space. When asked about the Freedom Flotilla vessel, army spokesman Defrin said "for this case as well, we are prepared", declining to go into detail. Israel has stepped up its offensive in what it says is a renewed push to defeat the Palestinian group Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 4,240 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,510, mostly civilians. Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Apart from the aid centre incident, the civil defence agency reported 19 killed on Tuesday. The army said three of its soldiers had been killed in northern Gaza, bringing the number of Israeli troops killed in the territory since the start of the war to 424. bur-dhw/tym
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US government defends aid for Gaza via controversial foundation
Despite growing criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the US government has defended the aid provided so far by the organization in the Gaza Strip, while maintaining its distance from it. Spokeswoman for the US State Department Tammy Bruce said the GHF is an independent organization that does not receive any money from the US government. However, she said they welcome "creative solutions" to bring humanitarian aid into the war zone. Bruce was responding to critical questions about the distribution system supported by Israel, which, according to the United Nations, endangers civilians and violates established standards of neutral aid. Several aid organizations have warned that the distribution brings hungry crowds into close proximity to armed soldiers, with potentially deadly consequences. The ministry spokeswoman pointed to the extent of the aid provided so far through the foundation. Previously, the accusation was that too little was being done – now the nature of the aid is being criticized. The US State Department had already rejected criticism of the foundation, while emphasizing that it does not speak for it. The foundation does not respond to questions about who funds it and where the money for the food packages comes from. The background to the questions was an incident near the city of Rafah, in which at least 27 people were killed and around 90 injured, according to Palestinian sources. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called for an independent investigation.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
What we know about the visa obtained by Egyptian man who injured a dozen people in Colorado
The Egyptian man charged with injuring a dozen people in Boulder, Colorado, in an attack on demonstrators seeking the release of Israeli hostages is among hundreds of thousands of people known to overstay their visas each year in the United States. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was born in Egypt and moved three years ago to Colorado Springs, where he lived with his wife and five children, according to state court documents. He lived for 17 years in Kuwait. Soliman entered the country in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023, according to Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that also expired. The department did not respond to requests for additional information. Federal immigration authorities took Soliman's wife and children into custody Tuesday. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said authorities were investigating whether his family knew about his plan. What is known about visa overstays? There were 565,155 visa overstays from October 2022 through September 2023 among visitors who arrived by plane or ship — more than the population of the metro areas of Reno, Nevada, or Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to Homeland Security's most recent annual report. The total number of overstays is much larger but has not been quantified because it does not include how many people arrive and leave by land. The cost and technological hurdles to develop a checkout system at congested land crossings are enormous. The overstay rate for Egyptians on business or tourist visas was 4% in 2023, well below some of the biggest offenders such as Chad (49%), Laos (34%) and Sudan (26%). Historically, academics have estimated that roughly 40% of people in the United States illegally stayed past their visas, but reliable numbers are difficult to come by. In 2016, Homeland Security published the number of overstays for the first time in at least two decades. How did Soliman obtain a work permit? Homeland Security did not say. But asylum seekers become eligible for work authorization 180 days after arrival. That correlates with him arriving in the country in August 2022 and obtaining the work permit in March 2023. Some critics say work permits create a huge magnet for asylum applications from people with weak cases. Immigration courts are backlogged with about 3.6 million cases, which can take years to resolve. The relative ease with which asylum seekers gain work permits has also fueled some tensions with people who have been in the country illegally for years or decades. Immigration court records are not public, and the status of Soliman's asylum case is unclear. Egyptians had an asylum grant rate of 72% during the 12-month period through September 2024, compared with 45% for all nationalities, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
