The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have announced that Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar was killed in an airstrike on the European hospital located in southern Gaza. This statement was accompanied by video evidence showing Sinwar’s body being located in underground tunnels.
The de facto Hamas leader, 49, was eliminated in an IDF strike on May 13 with Israel on Sunday recovering his body from a tunnel in Khan Yunis.
The IDF made the declaration post-identification, revealing on X Sinwar’s purported Israeli and Hamas identification, along with his driver’s license.
In bodycam footage shared on X, a soldier is seen descending into a deep tunnel near the hospital, advancing through a dark passageway.
They stumble into a packed out room filled with what appears to be guns and ammunition before panning the camera to find Sinwar’s camouflaged body on the ground.
The IDF member then makes their way through several other tunnels which lead to dark rooms filled with equipment.
The IDF wrote: ‘Mohammad Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of countless civilians. He was eliminated in an IDF & ISA strike on May 13.
‘His body was found beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis – more proof of how Sinwar, and Hamas, hide behind their civilians and purposely embed themselves in civilian areas, such as hospitals.
The IDF on Sunday released footage of the discovery of Mohammed Sinwar’s body in a tunnel beneath a hospital in southern Gaza
The de facto Hamas leader’s body was seen on the ground in a room beneath the Gaza hospital which was targeted in an airstrike on May 13
The rooms beyond the tunnels were seen packed with weapons and other military equipment
The IDF said: ‘His body was found beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis – more proof of how Sinwar, and Hamas, hide behind their civilians and purposely embed themselves in civilian areas, such as hospitals’
The head of Hamas ‘s military wing, Mohammad Sinwar, has been ‘eliminated’ in a massive air strike in Gaza
‘He died the way he lived -underground’.
Sinwar, nicknamed ‘The Shadow’ and ‘The Butcher of Khan Younis’, was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Yunis on May 13, just a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander.
At the time, the IDF said it had struck ‘Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control centre’ in underground infrastructure at the hospital.
Yet, it took over two weeks for Israel to confirm it had definitely killed Sinwar in the strike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on the 600th day of the war two weeks ago.
‘We changed the face of the Middle East, we pushed the terrorists from our territories, we entered the Gaza Strip with force, we eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, we eliminated (Mohammad) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,’ he said in a speech at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
The attack killed 28 Palestinians and wounded more than 50 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said after the strike.
Hamas apparently hid Sinwar’s body in a tunnel to prevent Israel verifying his death and to ensure he could receive a high-profile funeral at a time of the group’s choosing.
According to Israeli reports, its military took advantage of Sinwar briefly separating himself from some of the hostages who remain in Hamas custody following the atrocities of October 7, 2023.
Sinwar, nicknamed ‘The Shadow’ and ‘The Butcher of Khan Younis’, was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Yunis on May 13, just a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander
In bodycam footage of the find also posted to X, a soldier enters a deep tunnel outside the medical facility before making their way down a dim corridor
At the time, the IDF said it had struck ‘Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control centre’ in underground infrastructure at the hospital
An Israeli soldier guards at a tunnel, where the Israeli army believes to be Hamas leaders underground infrastructure while escorting members of the press near the Gaza European Hospital near Khan Yunis on June 8, 2025 in Khan Yunis, Gaza
Israeli soldiers enter a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where the military claims Hamas militants had been operating
Hamas apparently hid Sinwar’s body in a tunnel to prevent Israel verifying his death and to ensure he could receive a high-profile funeral at a time of the group’s choosing
The Hamas-run civil defence said that during the strike six bombs hit the hospital’s inner courtyard and surrounding area, killing 28 people and injuring dozens more
The IDF alleges tunnels under the European Hospital in southern Gaza were used by Hamas as a command center during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, masterminded by Yahya Sinwar
Sinwar used the hostages as human shields, confident Israel would not target him, but he attended talks with Hamas political leaders on May 13 without them.
Word reached Israeli military commanders, and to the surprise of those involved in the operation, authorisation was granted for air strikes close to the hospital.
Mohammed Sinwar took over the leadership of Hamas’s military wing last year following the death of his older brother Yahya.
Remarkable footage recorded by a drone showed Yahya sitting in an armchair in the devastated remains of a multi-storey building following an air strike in October.
He appeared to wave a piece of floorboard in defiance at the reconnaissance drone. Minutes later an air strike reduced the structure to rubble.
Israeli soldiers subsequently dragged Yahya’s body from the rubble.
His death was a watershed moment for the country as he was the main planner behind the October 7 attacks which killed 1,200 people and resulted in 250 hostages being taken into Gaza.
The atrocity triggered Israel’s retaliatory assault on the Occupied Palestinian Territories which has cost more than 50,000 lives, led to two million people being displaced and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
Mohammad Sinwar was the brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (pictured), who was killed by the IDF in October last year
Pictured: Yahya Sinwar throwing a stick at a drone moments before his death last year
Israel said it targeted a Hamas ‘command and control centre’ under a hospital, but has not confirmed whether Sinwar was killed in that strike. Pictured: Palestinians inspect the damage, after the European Hospital was partially damaged in Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 13
The celebration in Israel surrounding Mohammed Sinwar’s death came amid shocking scenes of humanitarian aid centres being over-run and crowds looting boxes of desperately needed supplies in Gaza.
Controversially, Israel has sidelined the major international aid agencies and set up its own distribution system in conjunction with the US.
It said it did not want Hamas to intercept aid meant for Gaza residents.
Opponents of Israel have accused the country of orchestrating the provision of lifesaving supplies effectively to enable ethnic cleansing.
