Media outlets in Gaza have reported the death of Zakaria Sinwar, brother to both former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the current de facto Hamas leader in Gaza, Muhammad Sinwar.
He was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike overnight in Nuseirat, located in the central part of the Gaza Strip.
According to the reports, Zakaria died alongside three of his children when the airstrike hit the tent they were staying in.
Zakaria Sinwar, a lecturer at the Islamic University in Gaza, was not publicly associated with any operational role within Hamas’s military wing.
However, his close family ties to two of the organization’s top figures underscore the significance of his death.
As of now, the Israeli military has not issued an official confirmation of the incident.
His reported death comes amid a surge in Israeli military activity across Gaza, forming part of an intensified effort to dismantle Hamas’s leadership and infrastructure.
Around the same time, a Saudi media outlet claimed that the body of Muhammad Sinwar, a senior commander in Hamas, was discovered inside a tunnel in Khan Yunis, a site recently targeted by Israeli strikes.
That report also remains unconfirmed by Israeli authorities.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is reported to have informed the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of his belief that Muhammad Sinwar was killed in an Israeli strike last week.
“There’s no official confirmation, but according to all the indications Muhammad Sinwar was eliminated,” Katz is quoted as saying by Ynet.
The Israeli military maintains that its ongoing operations are geared toward what it terms the “complete defeat of Hamas,” with a focus on eliminating senior commanders and dismantling the group’s extensive tunnel network.