Mohammad Sinwar, born on September 15, 1975, and rarely seen or heard in public, has been at the heart of Hamas’s military operations for decades. His alleged elimination, announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, closes a chapter on one of Israel’s most sought-after targets and elevates questions about the future of Hamas’s leadership.
Sinwar’s ascent to the top ranks of Hamas followed the death of his elder brother, Yahya Sinwar, in combat in 2024. Yahya, the purported mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, was captured in a widely circulated Israeli footage throwing a piece of wood at a drone, his last act of defiance before his death.
Education, family and joining Hamas
The Sinwar family’s roots trace back to Asqalan, now the Israeli city of Ashkelon. They became refugees during the 1948 war, an event Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or catastrophe, leading to their settlement in Khan Younis in Gaza, a city now largely reduced to rubble by the ongoing conflict. Mohammad Sinwar received his education in schools run by the U.N. Palestinian relief agency (UNRWA), an organisation with a long history of complex relations with Israel, including during the current war.
Influenced by his brother Yahya, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammad Sinwar joined Hamas shortly after its founding. His reputation as a hardliner quickly propelled him through the group’s military hierarchy. By 2005, he was at the helm of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, one of the largest and most potent battalions within Hamas’s armed wing. This unit has been responsible for cross-border attacks, rocket fire, and the planting of explosives along the frontier.
Operation and anti-operation
Mohammad Sinwar’s clandestine operations and strategic acumen were well-known to Israeli intelligence. In 2006, he played a central role in the daring abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit’s five-year captivity concluded with a prisoner swap that saw more than 1,000 Palestinians, including Yahya Sinwar, released from Israeli jails. The meticulously planned October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which shattered Israel’s perceived invincibility, also bore Mohammad Sinwar’s fingerprints, according to Hamas sources.
Despite numerous Israeli attempts on his life, including airstrikes and planted explosives, Mohammad Sinwar had consistently eluded capture, earning him a reputation among Hamas officials as a “ghost.” The unconfirmed nature of his death underscores the secretive and resilient nature of Hamas’s operational leadership. The world now awaits further confirmation and the potential implications for the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
(With Reuters Inputs)