Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Hamas commander Mohammed Sinwar has been “eliminated”, although Israeli military sources say his death has not yet been confirmed.
The leader’s statement came during an address to the Israeli Knesset, where he listed Sinwar among senior Hamas figures killed in Israeli strikes. “We have killed tens of thousands of terrorists, according to Sky News.
We killed [Mohammed] Deif, [Ismail] Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,” Netanyahu said, without providing further details.
However, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) officials have not corroborated the prime minister’s claim, and Hamas has yet to issue a statement regarding Sinwar’s reported death.
Mohammed Sinwar is the younger brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and around 250 taken hostage.
Yahya Sinwar was killed in a gun battle with Israeli forces last October, with Mohammed believed to have taken over a senior military role in Hamas’s armed wing.
Mohammed Sinwar was reportedly targeted in an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas command centre beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis on 13 May.
At least six people were killed and 40 injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Israel has not confirmed whether Sinwar was killed in the operation.
Humanitarian Crisis Deepens in Gaza
As uncertainty continues around Sinwar’s fate, Gaza remains on the brink of famine. Speaking emotionally at the UN Security Council, Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour broke down in tears, describing the suffering of Palestinian children and families.
“Children are dying of starvation. The images of mothers embracing their motionless bodies… is unbearable,” he said. “Flames and hunger are devouring Palestinian children.”
UN agencies and aid organisations have warned that humanitarian access to Gaza is dangerously restricted.
A recent aid distribution incident near Rafah left one person dead and 48 others injured after Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd that overwhelmed a food hub.
Witnesses reported Israeli tanks and helicopters at the scene, but it remains unclear who was responsible for the casualties.
Israel has recently assumed control of aid distribution in Gaza, a move heavily criticised by humanitarian groups and the United Nations.
Critics say the new system restricts access to basic necessities and uses food as a tool of population control.
Israeli Ambassador Blames UN
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, accused UN agencies of failing to collect aid shipments at border crossings. “There are more than 400 trucks already on the other side of the fence waiting to be distributed, but the UN has failed to pick them up,” he said, without providing evidence.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which helped establish the new aid hub, said its private military contractors did not fire on the crowd during the distribution chaos. It claimed the guards had “fallen back” before later resuming operations. Israel said its forces only fired warning shots.
The UN and major humanitarian groups have rejected Israel’s new aid system, arguing it fails to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
Medical Appeals at the UN
Addressing the Security Council, US trauma surgeon Dr Feroze Sidhwa, who recently worked in Gaza, described the conditions as a “man-made catastrophe.”
“This is a deliberate denial of the conditions necessary for life: food, shelter, water and medicine,” he said. “Participating in it, or allowing it to happen, is a choice.”
The World Health Organization reports that over 700 attacks on healthcare facilities have occurred in Gaza during the conflict. Israel maintains that Hamas uses hospitals as command centres and hides fighters within them.
Israel Vows to Continue Offensive
Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s goal to dismantle Hamas entirely and retrieve the remaining hostages—58 people, roughly a third of whom are believed to be alive. “In the last two days, we have been in a dramatic turn towards a complete defeat of Hamas,” he said.
Israel has vowed to maintain its offensive until Hamas is eliminated, disarmed or exiled.
