CNN
–
Israel targeted Hamas leader Mohammad Singhwar on a strike at a hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday evening, according to two sources familiar with the issue.
He became the de facto leader of extremist groups after Israeli forces killed his brother Yahya Sinwar last October.
The strike on Tuesday killed six Palestinians and injured at least 40 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) said it had struck at Khan Eunice’s European hospital to target “Hamasterolists from Command and Control Centres” in the underground infrastructure under the hospital. The IDF did not identify a strike target.
According to nurse Dr. Saleh Al Hams, multiple airstrikes have been struck in the hospital’s yards. Some people are buried under the tiled rub, he said, calling it a “catastrophe.” The medical team tried to move patients to a safe unit within the hospital.
Videos from the scene showed towering pillars of smoke and dust from what appears to be some of Gaza’s biggest strikes in recent weeks.
Hamas rejected Israeli claims about Singwar, saying in a statement, “Palestinian resistance is the only authority that has been empowered to confirm or deny what is publicly available through official platforms.”
The targeting of Singwar comes the day after Hamas released Israeli American Edan Alexander with a good-willed gesture to the United States. As Hamas communicated with the Trump administration, the contract to release a single hostage was on the sidelines for Israel.
The United States has expressed optimism about negotiations in Qatar with President Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkov in the Middle East. Before leaving Israel, Witkov promised the hostage family that he would “be someone who is less stolen by their pursuit.”
But with negotiations to begin in Doha and Israeli teams along the way – Singwar’s target has just tried to kill Hamas’ key decision makers, which Israel needs to seal off the potential agreement.
Israeli officials considered Mohammad Singwar as hard-liner as his brother Yahiya, but he was far more experienced in the military. According to the IDF, he ordered the Khan Eunice Brigade until 2016. Like Yahiya, he is considered to be one of the main plotters for the terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7th.
Since the start of the war he remained hidden along with many of the Hamas senior leaders in Gaza. In December 2023, IDF released a video of what they said. In February 2024, the IDF said they placed his office in West Khan Eunice.
Former US ambassador for Israeli Dan Shapiro said Singar is likely a barrier to negotiations. “There’s very little chance that the war will end before he dies,” Shapiro, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told CNN. “His removal opened the door for the release of all hostages and began moving towards the postwar future of Gaza, without Hamas.”
By October, most of the people at the Israeli military crossing were Yahyasinwar. Yahya, who was sentenced to four life sentences in 1988, said she became fluent in Hebrew and spent many years studying her enemies. He was released in 2011 as part of the contract to release Israeli soldier Girad Sharit. His release stems from the fact that his brother Mohammad was one of Sharit’s temptations and Yahiya insisted on inclusion in the deal.
Back in Gaza, Yahiya quickly passed through the ranks of extremist organizations and eventually became its leader.
From October 7th, Yahya became Israel’s most wanted man, and the IDF searched for him in a small coastal enclave. US officials believed that Israel had approached Yahya several times and washed him out of his underground hiding spot.
However, Yahiya moved undetected in the tunnel beneath Gaza, rarely coming to the ground, avoiding detection by Israeli electronic surveillance. Ultimately, it was a daily Israeli patrol in Gaza, engaged in a shootout in Rafa, southern Gaza, and discovered Yahiya’s body in Rafa.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
