IDF eliminates Hamas head again, says 'he is a Sinwar too'

Israel Defense Forces on Saturday (May 31) said that it has eliminated the Hamas chief again, and ‘he is a Sinwar too.’ This came days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli military had killed Hamas Gaza chief Muhammad Sinwar in an air strike on May 13. It is unclear if the Israeli Defense Forces, in its post on X, was referring to Muhammad Sinwar or any other Hamas chief. Israel had killed former Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar - the mastermind of the October 7 terror attack - in October 2024.

After the killing of Yahya Sinwar, Israel made Muhammad Sinwar one of the most wanted men in Gaza, placing a $300,000 bounty on him. Hamas escalated its attacks and recruitment efforts under Muhammad Sinwar and all major Gaza operations were handled by him.

Who was Muhammad Sinwar?

Muhammad Sinwar, nicknamed ‘the shadow’ by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), was born in 1975 in a Khan Younis refugee camp. Sinwar's family fled from Al-Majdal Asqalan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. He joined the military movement of Hamas in 1991 and in 2005, he became the commander of Hamas' Khan Younis brigade.

However, Muhammad Sinwar came into prominence after the abduction of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006. This led to the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, in which 1027 prisoners were released in exchange for Shalit. The prisoners included Yahya Sinwar, who was serving a life sentence for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in 1989.