Israel probing possibility of Hamas leader's killing in recent strike: Report

A Times of Israel report said that the country's officials are investigating the possibility that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead, following up on military intelligence, according to journalist Ben Caspit.

In Short

• Israeli journalist says Yahya Sinwar death highly unlikely
• Journalist says Sinwar disappeared after past strikes, assumed dead
• Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza on weekend, killing over 20 people

Israel is investigating the possibility that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, was killed in a recent airstrike, an Israeli media report said on Sunday.

A Times of Israel report said that the country's officials are investigating the possibility that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead, following up on military intelligence, as reported by Israeli journalist Ben Caspit.

"The Walla news site notes that the Shin Bet has rejected the report and believes that Sinwar is alive. The intelligence being investigated holds that Sinwar was killed during IDF operations in Gaza", the news report added.

The Times of Israel added that journalist Caspit reasoned that Sinwar might not be dead looking at his history, when he disappeared after past strikes and speculations of his death started doing rounds.

Reacting to speculations around Sinwar's death, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid said in a post on X, that officials with direct knowledge have told him that Jerusalem doesn’t have the information that could confirm the Hamas leader is dead.

On Saturday, Palestinians said an Israeli strike killed at least 22 people in a school sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza City, while the Israeli military claimed that the attack targeted a command centre of militant group Hamas.

The military said it hit a Hamas command centre embedded in the compound that previously served as a school, repeating an accusation that the group uses civilian facilities for military purposes. Hamas denies that.

On Sunday, an airstrike by Israeli forces killed seven people in a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza, per Palestinian health officials.

However, the Israeli military maintained it had targeted militants operating from the compound.

The strike hit Kafr Qasem School in Beach camp at around 11 am (0800 GMT), the officials said. Among those killed was Majed Saleh, the director of the Hamas-run Public Works and Housing ministry, they added.

The attack and other reported violence in Gaza came amid a surge of strikes further north between Israel and the Iran-backed forces of Hezbollah across the border with Lebanon - a parallel conflict that had stoked fears of wider regional unrest.