Israel claims killing Hamas chief in Gaza strike

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JERUSALEM:

Israel claimed on Wednesday a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza earlier this month killed Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas' Gaza chief and the younger brother of the Palestinian group's deceased leader Yahya Sinwar.

Mohammad Sinwar had been the target of an Israeli strike on the southern Gaza hospital on May 21 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it was likely that he was dead. Hamas has yet to confirm Sinwar's death.

Netanyahu announced that Sinwar had been "eliminated" in an address to the Israeli parliament as he listed off names of other Hamas officials that Israel had killed over the past 20 months, including Sinwar's brother Yahya.

"In the last two days we have been in a dramatic turn towards a complete defeat of Hamas," he said, adding that Israel was also "taking control of food distribution", a reference to a new aid distribution system in Gaza managed by a US-backed group.

Israeli military has intensified its genocide campaign in Gaza after breaking a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in March. The war erupted on October 7, 2023 when Hamas-led fighters killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel and took More than 250 hostages.

Israel's war of Gaza has decimated the coastal territory, killing more than 53,000, according to health officials in Gaza, and displaced over 2 million Palestinians. Gazan health officials have said most of those killed have been civilians – children and women.

Israel says it has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian fighters but has not provided any evidence to support those claims. Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir on May 26 said Hamas had lost many assets, including its command and control centre.

Sinwar was elevated to the top ranks of the Palestinian group last year after Israel killed his brother Yahya in combat. Yahya Sinwar masterminded the October 2023 attack was later named the overall leader of the group after Israel killed his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.