"We eliminated Muhammad Sinwar. We (Israel) had eliminated Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and now Muhammad Sinwar," Prime Minister Netanyahu said, speaking in Hebrew at the Knesset - Israel's parliament.

Reports about the Hamas chief being grievously injured in a massive airstrike by Israel on May 14 had been doing the rounds, but at that time, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was not in a position to confirm if the strike had killed him.

Muhammad Sinwar was the brother of former Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in a clash with the Israeli military in October 2024.

Yahya Sinwar had masterminded the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, which resulted in the Gaza war.

Yahya was named the leader of Hamas after Israel killed his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran. Following the suit, Muhammad Sinwar was elevated to the post after Yahya's execution.

On May 14, when the Israeli defence forces struck with precision drone strikes, Muhammad Sinwar, one of the last remaining top commanders of Hamas in Gaza, was at an underground facility which the militant group was using as a command centre, said reports.

The command centre was located under the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel's military had released a video of the aftermath of the precision strike, in which it showed a tunnel under the hospital, leading to the Hamas facility.