Israel targeted Muhammad Sinwar in rare moment when he had no hostages around him

 Israel targeted Muhammad Sinwar in rare moment when he had no hostages around him  

TV report says Hamas chief made mistake of meeting with top commanders without his usual protective ‘hostage belt’; when Israel was sure no captives were present, it bombed

The strike that targeted and possibly eliminated Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar in Gaza earlier this month was made possible when the terror chief made the rare mistake of moving without a defensive “hostage belt” protecting him, according to a Friday report.

Channel 12 aired new details on the massive strike on Sinwar and other top Hamas officials in a Khan Younis tunnel on May 13 that is currently believed to have killed Sinwar, the de facto commander of Hamas in Gaza, following Israel’s killing of his brother Yahya last October.

The network said Muhammad Sinwar was almost always surrounded by hostages throughout the war, as Hamas leaders realized this was a strong deterrent against Israeli assassination attempts, says an article in 'Times of Israel'.

And indeed, Channel 12 said Israeli intelligence had long tracked Sinwar but repeatedly ruled out potential strikes on him when presented with the opportunity due to fears there were hostages in his vicinity.  

In a fiery speech on Wednesday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed what he said were his government’s “tremendous achievements” in the war in Gaza that “changed the face of the Middle East” and that “broke the stranglehold of the Iranian axis.”

Reeling off a list of accomplishments, including the assassination of senior Hamas leaders, Netanyahu also announced for the first time that the IDF had successfully eliminated Muhammad Sinwar, a key Hamas leader and the brother of slain Hamas leader in Gaza and October 7 architect Yahya Sinwar.

The prime minister rejected allegations that he had given up on efforts to release the remaining 58 hostages in Gaza, and took credit for having secured the release of 197 hostages, “148 of whom are alive.” 

He contended that only military pressure had brought about their release. 

Mohammed (Muhammad) Ibrahim Hassan al-Sinwar 

Botn 6tn September 1975 – reportedly expired on 13th May 2025.

He was a Palestinian militant who succeeded his brother Yahya Sinwar after his brother was killed in October 2024, as the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp, Sinwar spent several years in Israeli and Palestinian Authority jails in the 1990s and became the leader of Hamas's Khan Yunis Brigade in 2005.