Israeli military officials said the Israeli military attacked Khan Yunis, a southern Gaza city, on Tuesday night, in an attempt to kill Muhammad Sinwar, one of Hamas' supreme leaders in the enclave.
Israel's success was not immediately confirmed.
Throughout the war in Gaza, Israel attempted to eliminate Hamas' hierarchy and methodically assassinate senior officials of the group. After such killings, the Israeli military often spends weeks confirming the death of the target, while Hamas has sometimes spent several months.
This is what we know about Mr. Singwar, who had survived before.
He is Yahya Sinwar's younger brother.
Muhammad Sinwar was born in Khan Younis in 1975. He is the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, who orchestrated the Hamas-led Israeli attack that launched a war in Gaza in October 2023 and has been in his footsteps for his whole life.
Their family fled Israeli Ashkron during the Arab-Israel War in 1948 and headed to a refugee camp in Khan Yunis.
The young Mr. Singwar is believed to have joined Hamas in the early 1990s as Yahya is increasing the ranks of the organization. In 1991, he was arrested by the Israeli military for suspected terrorist activities and was detained in Israel for less than a year. He was sentenced to several years in the West Coast city of Ramallah in the 1990s.
He is called “Shadow”.
Muhammad Sinwar, like his older brother, has long been wanted by Israeli authorities. It is said that he was assassinated six times by 2021.
In 2014, the Israeli military believed it killed the young Mr. Singwar, but found that he had survived. In the second half of 2023, the Israeli military said on social media that it searched his office during a raid at the Hamas military post and training compound in Gaza, “the location of military doctrine documents.”
However, both Singwa brothers continued to flood Israel until then-Hamas political leader Yahya was killed by the Israeli military in October.
In a 2022 interview with Al Jazeera, Mohammed was reportedly so elusive that he would not be recognized by most people in Gaza and even missed his father's funeral to maintain his whereabouts.
He is believed to have fought most of the war underground to escape Israeli air strikes. But in recent months, according to a Middle East intelligence official, he was found on the ground in Khan Younis.
Israeli military said on Tuesday that its troops attacked Hamas command center under European hospitals near Khan Yunis. Gaza's Ministry of Health said at least six people were killed and at least 40 were injured.
He plays a major role in Hamas.
Muhammad Sinwar is considered one of the highest Hamas military commanders in Gaza.
In addition to Yahya Sinwar, Israel also canceled the commander of Hamas military wing Muhammad Deif, who was killed in Israeli air strikes in July. Ismail Haniyeh, the political head of the group, was killed during a visit to Iran in July when he was attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president in Tehran.
By targeting Muhammad Sinwar, the Israeli military may want to remove a particularly hard line negotiator. He is known for his compromise with Israel in the ceasefire negotiations, just like his older brother, according to two Israeli officials and Middle East intelligence officials. He also refused to agree to any truce, including the demolition and lifting of Israel's insistence on Hamas.
In January, the Wall Street Journal reported that the young Mr. Singwar had been recruiting new fighters in Gaza.
In an interview with Al Jazeera in 2022, Muhammad Sinwar, then a senior commander of the Hamas military force, spoke about the assassination attempts against him and the attempts to resist Israel, saying: “For us, it's easier to shoot rockets in Tel Aviv than to drink water.”
He is related to the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.
Israel accused his younger brother of being one of the people responsible for the planned attack that led to the 2006 kidnap of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Mr. Shalit was arrested in a cross-border attack on Israel and held it in Gaza for five years. Muhammad Sinwar is said to have captured soldiers for a while.
The soldier was exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons in 2011. The one that was released was Yahya Sinwar.
In 2022, the young Mr Singwar told Al Jazeera that he believes the industry could help ensure the release of thousands of Palestinians in Israel. The following year, Hamas kidnapped about 250 hostages from Israel and brought them to Gaza to use as bargaining chips in future negotiations.
Reported by Ronen Bergman,,,,, Adam Rasgon,,,,, Patrick Kingsley and Aaron Boxerman.
