Hamas chief Mohammed Sinwar has been killed, Israel's Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the de facto leader of Hamas, Mohammed Sinwar, has been killed. Netanyahu mentioned the killing in a speech to Israel's parliament as the U.S. seeks another temporary ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
During his speech, Netanyahu listed the names of top Hamas leaders killed during the war and included Sinwar. "We have killed ten of thousands of terrorists. We killed (Mohammed) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar," he said.
Netanyahu did not elaborate, and Israel's military did not immediately issue any new statement on Sinwar's apparent death.
Sinwar was the latest leader of Hamas — which the U.S. and Israel have designated as a terrorist group — to be killed by Israeli forces. His older brother Yahya Sinwar, a top target for the Israeli military who previously led the group, was killed in October. Deif, who led Hamas' military wing, was killed by Israeli forces in July. Haniyeh, a former Hamas political leader, was assassinated in Iran last year, an incident Iran blamed on Israeli forces but Israel did not take responsibility for.
Since Yahya Sinwar's death, Mohammed Sinwar had been widely described in Israeli and Arab media as one of Hamas' top leaders in the Gaza Strip.
A screengrab shows who the Israeli army says is Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar, taken from a handout video, released Dec. 17, 2023.
Israeli army/Handout via Reuters
Top Hamas leaders based in Qatar didn't pick Mohammed Sinwar as the group's sole leader after his brother's death, but militants in the Gaza Strip have largely followed him, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year, citing Arab negotiators. The younger Sinwar — a longtime Hamas member — has helped lead the group as it recruits new fighters, replacing some of the thousands of Hamas terrorists Israel says it has killed, according to the newspaper.
"Mohammed Sinwar is managing everything," retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi told the Journal.
Mohammed Sinwar's reported death comes after nearly 20 months of war between Israel and Hamas, which began after Hamas-led militants launched an attack on southern Israel in October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 as hostages back into Gaza.
At the White House, President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters Wednesday he had "very good feelings" about getting to a temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution to the conflict.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a swearing-in ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., May 28, 2025.
Reuters/Leah Millis
A two-month ceasefire between the two sides ended in March after Israel resumed intense strikes on the Gaza Strip and enforced a blockade on all aid supplies entering the Palestinian territory, leading to widespread reports of shortages and hunger. Israel blames all the suffering in Gaza on Hamas, calling the blockade a tactic to pressure the terrorist group into releasing the 58 remaining hostages, although it is unclear how many are alive.
In recent weeks, Israeli officials have vowed to push ahead with the war to capture and control the entire Gaza Strip and to dismantle Hamas, though Israel has allowed limited aid to enter Gaza this week.
Over 54,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began more than a year and a half ago, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties.
Earlier this month, Hamas released Eden Alexander, believed to have been the last living American citizen held hostage in Gaza.
The families of the remaining hostages have led large protests demanding that Netanyahu make a deal to bring their loved ones home and end the war. In a statement shared by his office following the release of Alexander, Netanyahu insisted that while there could be a temporary ceasefire to allow for more hostages to be freed, there is "no way we will stop the war … we're going to the end."
Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston.
contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
State implements reviews of Harvard visa applicants' social media accounts
The State Department has told U.S. consulates and embassies to immediately begin reviewing the social media accounts of Harvard's student visa applicants for antisemitism in what it called a pilot program that could be rolled out for colleges nationwide. The cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, obtained by POLITICO, was sent late Thursday. It says consular officers should 'conduct a complete screening of the online presence of any nonimmigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose.' The policy will take effect immediately, per the cable. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The document puts into motion a proposal the Trump administration floated earlier this week for expanded social media vetting of all foreign students applying to U.S. colleges, pausing new appointments for student visa applicants in the meantime. Increased social media vetting did already exist, but it was previously primarily intended for returning students who may have participated in protests against Israel's actions in Gaza. It also adds to the White House's battle with elite academic institutions over alleged mishandling of cases of antisemitism during campus protests in response to Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip against militant group Hamas. The cable specifically identifies antisemitism and antisemitic viewpoints as the focus for consular officers but does not spell out what specifically would rise to the level of inadmissible antisemitism in the eyes of State Department leadership. It says that the Harvard review process 'will also serve as a pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants' and that 'this pilot will be expanded over time,' indicating it will likely reach other universities in the Trump administration's crosshairs. Notably, State Department leadership wants consular officers to consider 'whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media accounts restricted to 'private' or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant's credibility.' The cable also instructs consular officers to inform applicants that private social media accounts could be viewed as evading vetting and request they make their accounts public while the Fraud Prevention Unit reviews their case. The new guidance comes as the U.S. government continues its showdown with Harvard for alleged failures to address antisemitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The federal government has stripped Harvard of billions in research funding and entered in dueling litigation with the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school. It had also suspended Harvard's ability to enroll international students by briefly blocking visa applications before that decision was blocked by a federal judge. It also comes as the administration has targeted other academic communities, including Chinese nationals studying at U.S. colleges and universities. Rubio said Wednesday the administration would 'aggressively revoke' visas of Chinese nationals studying in sensitive fields, the potential implementation of which has flummoxed State Department officials.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
GHF aid threatens Hamas control in Gaza, UN trying to undermine efforts, IDF sources say
Hamas fears losing control over vital humanitarian supplies, demanding that distribution returns to the UN. The early success of the American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation-run aid centers has the ability to significantly dent Hamas's control over food distribution in the coastal enclave, The Jerusalem Post learned Friday. However, distribution of aid through the GHF has become a tumultuous point in current ceasefire negotiations and has raised many questions. IDF sources have confirmed that at least four food distribution centers have already begun partial operations — three in the south and one in central Gaza — providing over 1.2 million meals through an estimated 3,550 to 5,000 boxes. Each package can feed a family of five for five to seven days. This initiative, carried out largely through convoys of more than 30 trucks each carrying at least 1,000 packages, is seen by some as a potential blow to Hamas's longstanding control over food supplies. Analysts suggest that while Hamas remains the dominant armed presence in Gaza, its political grip, especially in controlling vital resources, could be significantly undermined. A source said the IDF currently inspects around 60,000 aid packages every day to ensure proper distribution. It is expected to take about two weeks before all four centers reach full operational capacity. Plans are also underway for at least four more centers to open in the future. A US-backed hostage deal is currently in limbo as Israel has agreed to the terms, while Hamas has currently rejected them without fully walking away from negotiations. The current deal proposal includes returning the distribution of the humanitarian aid in Gaza to the UN. Analysts believe that the fact that Hamas included a stipulation of removing aid distribution from the GHF further shows that the terror group fears that the initiative will undermine its control in Gaza. Meanwhile, organized crime and local gangs, separate from Hamas, have reportedly hijacked food shipments. 'Sometimes it's Hamas, sometimes it's just desperate people,' one official explained. 'Sometimes it's local gangs not connected to Hamas at all.' The humanitarian crisis has been worsened by the movement of nearly 900,000 Palestinians from northern Gaza into the densely populated Gaza City following the latest wave of fighting. This concentration of displaced residents is placing enormous strain on aid efforts, with only a single food center currently operating in the central region. Adding to the tension are strong accusations from the IDF that the UN has acted as if it lacks the capacity to move food to northern Gaza, thereby stalling hundreds of aid trucks at the Kerem Shalom crossing point. Earlier this week, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that the UN is reducing cooperation with Israel's food initiative, complicating the distribution of aid and effectively playing into Hamas's hands. On Monday, Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said there are 10,000 aid trucks on the Gaza border, cleared and ready to go. 'We've got 10,000 trucks on the border right now, cleared [and] ready to go, and we'll do everything to get them in and save lives,' Fletcher told CNN's Christine Amanpour on Monday. When she repeated the number back to him incredulously, Fletcher nodded and replied, 'Full of food.' COGAT posted a clip of the interview on X/Twitter, saying, 'Look, it's @UNReliefChief with another libelous lie.' 'There are no 10,000 trucks waiting to go into Gaza. What there are, are hundreds of trucks' worth of aid the UN hasn't picked up from the Gazan side over the last few days, after we gave you plenty of routes you can use to safely distribute the aid throughout Gaza.' On Thursday, COGAT accused UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric of lying about Fletcher's recent visits to Gaza and the UN's framing of the Gaza humanitarian aid issue. COGAT noted that while Dujarric claimed Fletcher had seen Gaza "with his own eyes a few weeks ago," the UN official had actually not visited the enclave since February. "Let's stop focusing on aid that might be in the pipeline, and start collecting the content of the 550 trucks already waiting for you inside Gaza," COGAT wrote. "For a full week now, we've been offering you alternative routes to facilitate pickup. These are areas with active military activities, and coordination is for your own safety. Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.
Politico
37 minutes ago
- Politico
State implements reviews of Harvard visa applicants' social media accounts
The State Department has told U.S. consulates and embassies to immediately begin reviewing the social media accounts of Harvard's student visa applicants for antisemitism in what it called a pilot program that could be rolled out for colleges nationwide. The cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, obtained by POLITICO, was sent late Thursday. It says consular officers should 'conduct a complete screening of the online presence of any nonimmigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose.' The policy will take effect immediately, per the cable. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The document puts into motion a proposal the Trump administration floated earlier this week for expanded social media vetting of students applying to U.S. colleges, pausing new appointments for student visa applicants in the meantime. Increased social media vetting did already exist, but it was previously primarily intended for returning students who may have participated in protests against Israel's actions in Gaza. It also adds to the White House's battle with elite academic institutions over alleged mishandling of cases of antisemitism during campus protests in response to Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip against militant group Hamas. The cable specifically identifies antisemitism and antisemitic viewpoints as the focus for consular officers but does not spell out what specifically would rise to the level of inadmissible antisemitism in the eyes of State Department leadership. It says that the Harvard review process 'will also serve as a pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants' and that 'this pilot will be expanded over time,' indicating it will likely reach other universities in the Trump administration's crosshairs. Notably, State Department leadership wants consular officers to consider 'whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media accounts restricted to 'private' or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant's credibility.' The cable also instructs consular officers to inform applicants that private social media accounts could be viewed as evading vetting and request they make their accounts public while the Fraud Prevention Unit reviews their case. The new guidance comes as the U.S. government continues its showdown with Harvard for alleged failures to address antisemitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The federal government has stripped Harvard of billions in research funding and entered in dueling litigation with the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school. It had also suspended Harvard's ability to enroll international students by briefly blocking visa applications before that decision was blocked by a federal judge. It also comes as the administration has targeted other academic communities, including Chinese nationals studying at U.S. colleges and universities. Rubio said Wednesday the administration would 'aggressively revoke' visas of Chinese nationals studying in sensitive fields, the potential implementation of which has flummoxed State Department officials.
