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Israel identifies the remains of the second hostage repatriated from Gaza as belonging to student Idan Shtivi

Hamas confirmed on Saturday the death of its Gaza military commander, Mohammed al-Sinwar, months after Israel announced that he had been killed in an airstrike in May. His death is likely to leave his close aide, Ezzeddine al-Haddad, currently overseeing operations in northern Gaza, as the next leader of Hamas’s armed wing across the enclave.

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Hamas did not disclose details surrounding al-Sinwar’s death but published his picture alongside those of other leaders, referring to them as “pure martyr leaders.”

Mohammed al-Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya al-Sinwar, Hamas’s political and military leader who played a central role in planning the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Yahya was killed a year later in combat. Following his brother’s death, Mohammed rose through the senior ranks of the movement. His likely successor, Ezzeddine al-Haddad, now in charge of northern Gaza operations, is expected to assume full command of the military wing.

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Al-Haddad, known by his nom de guerre “Abu Suhaib,” is a senior figure within the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Born in the early 1970s, he is described in Israeli circles as the “ghost of al-Qassam” for his ability to evade detection and survive multiple assassination attempts. His home was bombed several times, first during the 2009 Battle of al-Furqan in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood, and later in the 2012 and 2021 wars.

A Hamas member since the movement’s founding in 1987, al-Haddad climbed the ranks: from infantry soldier in Gaza Brigade, to squad leader, battalion commander, and eventually brigade commander. He played a key role in planning and executing attacks against Israel and in organizing the “al-Majd” apparatus, a unit responsible for tracking and eliminating suspected collaborators working with Israel.

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In November 2023, Israel announced a $750,000 bounty for information on his whereabouts.

The confirmation of Mohammed al-Sinwar’s death coincides with a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announcing that the remains of the second hostage repatriated from Gaza this week were identified as those of Idan Shtivi, a 28-year-old student killed during Hamas’s October 7 attack at the Nova music festival.
“Special operations in Gaza led to the recovery of Idan Shtivi’s body,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated. The military had said on Friday that it had located the body of Ilan Weiss along with the remains of a second hostage whose identity was initially withheld. Following forensic identification, Shtivi’s body was formally confirmed and returned to Israel.

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Shtivi, who had been working as a photographer, attempted to flee the festival with two friends in a car, but they crashed into a tree under gunfire. His family clung to hope for nearly a year before being informed, on the eve of the attack’s first anniversary, that he had been killed at the site.

On Saturday, the army said the bodies of Shtivi and Weiss were found during a “complex rescue operation.” The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the recovery “represents a fundamental commitment of the State of Israel to its citizens.”

Despite mounting domestic and international pressure to end the war, Netanyahu has vowed to continue military operations. He instructed the army to prepare for a large-scale offensive on Gaza City, which was declared a “dangerous combat zone” on Friday. Israel has maintained that a full evacuation of the city is “unavoidable.”

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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Saturday that such an evacuation was “impossible” to carry out safely and with dignity. Its president, Mirjana Spoljaric, described the plans as “not only unfeasible but incomprehensible.” The United Nations estimates the population of Gaza City and its surrounding areas at about one million.

On the ground, Israeli strikes intensified Saturday on the neighborhoods of Sabra, Zeitoun, and Sheikh Radwan. Residents reported relentless bombardment, widespread destruction, suffocating smoke, and the absence of any safe shelter.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, run by Hamas but considered a credible source by the UN, Israeli operations have killed at least 63,025 people since the war began, the majority of them civilians.

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