KHAN YOUNIS: The Israeli military mentioned on Sunday (Jun 8) it had retrieved the physique of Hamas’ military chief Mohammed Sinwar in an underground tunnel beneath a hospital in southern Gaza, following a focused operation final month.
One other senior Hamas chief, Mohammad Shabana, commander of the Rafah Brigade, was additionally discovered lifeless on the scene together with quite a few different militants, who’re nonetheless being recognized, mentioned IDF spokesperson, Brigadier Common Effie Defrin.
Israeli forces gave a small group of overseas reporters a tour of the tunnel that had been uncovered beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, which Defrin mentioned was a serious command and management compound for Hamas.
“That is one other instance of the cynical use by Hamas, utilizing civilians as human shields, utilizing civilian infrastructure, hospitals, time and again,” mentioned Defrin.
“We discovered beneath the hospital, proper beneath the emergency room, a compound of some rooms. In one in all them we discovered, we killed Mohammed Sinwar,” he mentioned.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced Sinwar’s loss of life final month, however Defrin mentioned they now had his DNA which proved past doubt it was him.
Hamas has not commented on studies of the loss of life of both Sinwar or Shabana.
Sinwar was the youthful brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Palestinian militant group’s deceased chief and mastermind of the October 2023 assault on Israel that killed 1,200 individuals in accordance with Israeli tallies, and which triggered the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
