Who was Mohammad Sinwar? The ‘ghost' who evaded multiple assassination attempts
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Mohammad Sinwar, the head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, was assassinated by Israeli forces.
Mohammad was the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas chief who was assassinated by Israel last year in Gaza. A hardliner who rose through the ranks of the group's armed wing in Khan Younis, he was also nicknamed the 'ghost' for surviving multiple assassination attempts by Israeli intelligence.
Born on September 15, 1975, Sinwar had rarely appeared in public or spoken to the media. His family was among the lakhs of Palestinians who escaped the Nakba, or catastrophe, during the birth of Israel during the 1948 war, and settled in the Gaza Strip.
The Sinwars settled in Khan Younis and Mohammad was educated in a school run by the United Nations Palestinian relief agency (UNRWA).
Also read | Who was Yahya Sinwar, the 'Butcher of Khan Younis'?
He joined Hamas shortly after the militant group's founding in 1987, and his reputation as a 'hardliner' helped him rise through the ranks, leading the Khan Younis Brigade, one of Hamas' strongest units in Gaza.
The Khan Younis Brigade led the 2006 cross-border attack and abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive for five years and swapped in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Yahya Sinwar was among those prisoners.
Mohammad also developed close ties with Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, and Mohammed Deif, the military chief assassinated by Israel.
Also read | 'This is how a hero dies': Gazans hail Yahya Sinwar after Israel attack
Hamas sources told Reuters that Mohammad Sinwar played a central role in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which was masterminded by his late brother. The attack is widely considered Israel's worst security failure, creating frictions within the establishment.
Once, he evaded a remote-controlled explosive resembling a brick that had been planted along his path to a cemetery. In 2003, a bomb was found planted in the wall of his house.
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