Hamas Confirms Death of Mohammed Sinwar After IDF Operation

Hamas has officially acknowledged the death of Mohammed Sinwar, a senior commander and brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, nearly three months after the Israeli strike that targeted him in Khan Younis. The admission comes as the group also released rare images of Mohammed Deif, the longtime head of Hamas’s military wing, who himself was killed in an Israeli airstrike one year ago.

The announcement appeared in Hamas’s publication of a new “martyrs’ photo,” which for the first time included Mohammed Sinwar alongside Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Marwan Issa.

Israeli Operation Confirmed His Death

The IDF had already reported in June that Sinwar’s body was located in a subterranean tunnel complex beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis. The discovery followed a joint IDF–Shin Bet operation in the southern command sector. According to the IDF, the underground infrastructure revealed how Hamas systematically diverted humanitarian aid and used civilian sites, including hospitals, as operational hubs.

Brig.-Gen. Effie Dufrin, IDF Spokesperson, toured the underground site and said:

“Here we see exactly where European aid money ended up in terror tunnels instead of helping civilians. Hamas cynically turned a hospital into a command post for murder and terror. From here they even planned and carried out the October 7 attacks.”

Dufrin added that the strike directly hit the room where Mohammed Sinwar, along with Rafah Brigade commander Shabaneh, had been hiding:

“We can now state with certainty that Sinwar was here and met his end here. We will continue to pursue Hamas leaders until the last one, and until our war objectives are achieved.”

A profile of former Hamas military leader Mohammed Sinwar (Photo: Canva, IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Mohammed Deif’s “Return” in Images

In parallel, Hamas marked the one-year anniversary of the killing of Mohammed Deif, long considered its “chief of staff”, by releasing new, previously unseen photographs of him alongside other senior operatives. Deif, a figure shrouded in secrecy for decades, was killed in an Israeli targeted strike last year, after surviving multiple previous assassination attempts.

A Symbolic Double Blow

The acknowledgment of Mohammed Sinwar’s death, combined with the resurfacing of Deif’s images, highlights the scale of Hamas’s leadership losses over the past year. For Israel, the public admission validates the operational success of its targeted campaigns. For Hamas, the release serves as an attempt to frame fallen leaders as enduring symbols of its struggle.