Cairo: The Palestinian militant group Hamas confirmed on Saturday the death of its Gaza military chief Mohammad Sinwar, a few months after Israel said it killed him in a strike in May.

Hamas did not provide details on Sinwar’s death but published pictures of him along with other group leaders, describing them as “martyrs”.

Mohammad Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Islamist faction’s chief, who co-masterminded the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, and whom Israel had killed in combat a year later.

He was elevated to the top ranks of the group after the death of the brother.

His confirmed death would leave his close associate Izz al-Din Haddad, who currently oversees operations in northern Gaza, in charge of Hamas’ armed wing across the whole of the enclave.

Along with his role as Gaza’s military commander, he had been serving as the seventh leader of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades since July 2024.

Yahya Sinwar himself was killed in 2024 during an Israeli military operation in Gaza, after which his stature within Hamas ranks had grown significantly.

Mohammad Sinwar survived multiple assassination attempts, most of them carried out by Israel. He was first targeted in 2000 during the Second Intifada, followed by attempts in 2006 and 2008.

During the 2014 Gaza conflict, Hamas even staged his death to conceal his whereabouts. For years afterwards, Israeli intelligence agencies operated under the belief that he had been killed, until they later uncovered evidence proving otherwise.

Earlier in May this year, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet launched a precision strike in southern Gaza, specifically targeting Sinwar.

Reports indicated that bunker-busting munitions were deployed to destroy underground exits beneath the European hospital, where Sinwar was believed to be hiding.

Weeks after the strike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly declared that Sinwar had indeed been eliminated.

Announcing the development, Netanyahu stated, “We eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, Mohammad Deif, Hassan Nasrallah, Yahya Sinwar.”