A screengrab shows according to the Israeli Army, Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar, taken from a handout video, released Dec/ 17, 2023. Photo: Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas‘s Gaza chief and the younger brother of the Palestinian terrorist group’s deceased leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Yahya Sinwar, had been killed.

Mohammad Sinwar had been the target of an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza earlier this month and Netanyahu said on May 21 that it was likely he was dead.

The Israeli leader announced that Sinwar had been “eliminated” in an address to the Israeli parliament as he listed off names of other Hamas officials that Israel had killed over the past 20 months, including Sinwar‘s brother Yahya.

“In the last two days we have been in a dramatic turn towards a complete defeat of Hamas,” he said, adding that Israel was also “taking control of food distribution,” a reference to a new aid distribution system in Gaza managed by a US-backed group.

Hamas has yet to confirm Sinwar‘s death.

Netanyahu‘s announcement comes as the Israeli military has intensified its war campaign in Gaza after a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Israel has said it aims to dismantle Hamas‘s governing and military capabilities and secure the release of hostages that are still held in Gaza.

The war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists stormed out of Gaza, rampaging through southern Israeli communities and killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

More than 250 were captured and taken as hostages into Gaza.

Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir on May 26 said Hamas had lost many assets, including its command-and-control center.

Sinwar was elevated to the top ranks of the Palestinian terrorist group last year after Israel killed his brother Yahya in combat.

Yahya Sinwar masterminded the October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, now in its 20th month, and was later named the overall leader of the group after Israel killed his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.