The brother of slain Hamas' Gaza Strip leader Yahya Sinwar was confirmed dead on Thursday after he succumbed to his wounds following an Israeli strike late last week, Palestinian and Israeli media reported.
Zakaria Sinwar was killed alongside his three sons during the attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, as Israel intensified its military onslaught in the Palestinian enclave under the internationally condemned Gideon’s Chariots military operation.
Sinwar was believed to have been killed on Sunday following the strike, but he later showed signs of life and was transferred to an intensive care unit, before succumbing to his wounds on Wednesday afternoon.
Sinwar had spent years teaching modern and contemporary history at the Islamic University in Gaza.
An accomplished academic, Sinwar earned a BA in History from the Islamic University and later earned an MA and a PhD in the History of Zionism from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies in Cairo in 2003 and 2006, respectively.
He served as Director of the Oral History Center at the Islamic University from 2000 to 2002 and as an Associate Professor in the History Department at the Faculty of Arts at the same university.
His eldest brother Yahya, who also served as the chairman of Hamas' political bureau, was killed in battle with the Israeli military in October last year in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.
His last moments alive were captured by an Israeli drone, where a visibly wounded Sinwar could be seen in military gear and a keffiyeh as he was battling Israeli fire in Tel Al-Sultan.
His death came amid the killing of several key figures in Hamas' leadership by the Israeli military amid the war in Gaza, including the group’s politburo head Ismail Haniyeh, and military chief Mohammed Deif.
Last week, the Israeli military claimed to have killed the youngest Sinwar, Mohammed, following a strike on a bunker under the European Hospital in Khan Younis, which killed 26 people.
Israel’s minister of defence Israel Katz also claimed that the youngest Sinwar brother was killed during the attack, with his body allegedly recovered from the Khan Younis tunnel.
Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan, however, has gone on to deny the killing, stating that he is still alive.