Israel launched a series of airstrikes late on Tuesday targeting the vicinity of the European Hospital in eastern Khan Younis, including the entrance to the emergency department.
The Israeli military claimed the area was hiding a Hamas military facility beneath the hospital. Soon after the strikes, Israeli media reported that the real target was Mohammed al-Sinwar, a senior commander in the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
Israeli outlets suggested that the precision of the attack made survival unlikely, though the military has yet to confirm whether the assassination attempt succeeded.
Mohammed Ibrahim Hassan al-Sinwar was born in September 1975 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza, where his family settled after being displaced from their hometown of al-Majdal (now Ashkelon) during the 1948 Nakba. He joined Hamas shortly after its founding in 1987 and quickly emerged as a key figure during the First Intifada, known as the "stone uprising".
In 2005, al-Sinwar was appointed commander of the Khan Younis Brigade and joined the Qassam Brigades’ General Military Council. He was known to be close to the group’s former military chief Mohammed Deif and his deputy Marwan Issa - both of whom Israel has targeted for years. Al-Sinwar himself has long been on Israel's assassination list.
Before the current war on Gaza began in 2023, al-Sinwar was reportedly serving as head of military operations and had handed command of the Khan Younis Brigade to Raef Salama, who was killed in an Israeli strike in July 2024.
Al-Sinwar has kept an extremely low profile for decades, moving under tight security. He has reportedly survived six Israeli assassination attempts, including one in 2003 involving a bomb planted in the wall of his home. The most recent attempt was during the 2021 conflict known as the "Sword of Jerusalem".
Israel accuses al-Sinwar of masterminding numerous attacks during the Second Intifada and of playing a central role in the 2006 capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held in Gaza for five years.
In a rare public appearance in 2022, al-Sinwar spoke on television about the 2021 conflict and the Qassam Brigades’ efforts to capture Israeli soldiers at the outset of that war.
During the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, Tel Aviv claimed that al-Sinwar was deeply involved in planning the attack, working closely with his brother Yahya al-Sinwar, Hamas's political chief in Gaza, and Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed al-Deif.
Since Deif's reported assassination in July 2024 and the killing of Yahya al-Sinwar in October, Israel believes Mohammed al-Sinwar had taken over leadership of Hamas's military wing in Gaza.