The IDF says it has recovered the body of late Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar from a tunnel under the EU-founded European Hospital in southern Gaza.
Sinwar, who took over from his brother Yahya after the latter was killed by an IDF drone last October, was apparently eliminated in an airstrike on the Khan Younis facility in May.
Hamas is yet to confirm his death but the IDF said that the remains have been verified by DNA analysis.
The military also released footage of Israeli soldiers recovering the body, including a video tour of the network of tunnels under the hospital, which was established in the 1980s with an EU grant.
At the time of the strike, the UN – which now funds the hospital through its agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) – condemned Israel, saying: “These attacks not only further degrade Gaza’s already decimated healthcare system, but also further traumatise patients and medical staff at these facilities."
The IDF released footage showing the network of tunnels beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis (Image: IDF)[Missing Credit]
The agency has long maintained that its facilities are protected under international law and cannot be considered legitimate military targets.
Israel, though, has claimed that Hamas uses hospital compounds as operating bases and that Unrwa has been infiltrated by terrorists.
Commenting on the latest discovery, Brigadier General Effie Defrin said: “This is another example of the cynical use by Hamas, using civilians as human shields, using civilian infrastructure, hospitals, again and again.”
Sinwar's body was recovered along with that of Mohammad Sabaneh, commander of the terror group’s Rafah Brigade.
The pair were reportedly attending a meeting of senior Hamas commanders in the tunnels under the hospital to discuss their approach to a new US-backed ceasefire proposal.
A divide is understood to be growing between Hamas’ military leadership in Gaza and its political heads, based in Qatar, with the branch in the Strip said to be far less willing to give concessions in ceasefire talks.
Reports from Channel 12 suggest that Israel is now holding both corpses as “bargaining chips”, potentially hoping to exchange them for the remains of Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023.
