United News of Bangladesh

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Mohammed Sinwar, believed to be the head of Hamas' armed wing, has been killed, apparently confirming his death in a recent strike in the Gaza Strip. There was no confirmation from Hamas. Sinwar is the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who helped mastermind the October 7, 2023, attack that started the Israel-Hamas war, and who was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024, according to news agency AP. Israeli strikes have decimated Hamas’ leadership during the 19-month war, and Mohammed Sinwar was one of the last widely known leaders still alive in Gaza. But the militant group has maintained its rule over the parts of Gaza not seized by Israel. It still holds dozens of hostages and carries out sporadic attacks on Israeli forces. As the head of Hamas’ armed wing, Sinwar would have had the final word on any agreement to release the hostages, and his death could further complicate U.S. and Arab efforts to broker a ceasefire. Israel has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been either defeated or disarmed and sent into exile. Netanyahu mentioned the killing of Sinwar in a speech before parliament in which he listed the names of other top Hamas leaders killed during the war. “We have killed tens of thousands of terrorists. We killed (Mohammed) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,” he said. Netanyahu did not elaborate. Israeli media had reported that the younger Sinwar was the target of a May 13 strike on what the military said was a Hamas command center beneath the European Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the Sinwars' hometown. The military declined to comment on whether Sinwar had been targeted or killed. Israeli forces raid West Bank foreign exchange shops; one killed, dozens injured At least six people were killed in the strike and 40 wounded, Gaza's Health Ministry said at the time. A Hamas veteran Mohammed Sinwar was born in 1975 in the urban Khan Younis refugee camp. His family was among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation. The refugees and their descendants today make up the majority of Gaza's population. Like his older brother, Yahya, the younger Sinwar joined Hamas after it was founded in the late 1980s as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. He became a member of the group’s military wing, known as the Qassam Brigades. He rose through the ranks to become a member of its so-called joint chiefs of staff, bringing him close to its longtime commander, Deif, who was killed in a strike last year. Mohammed Sinwar was one of the planners of a 2006 cross-border attack on an Israeli army post. In that attack, militants captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, who was held for five years and later exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including Yahya Sinwar. In an interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV aired three years ago, Mohammed Sinwar said that when Hamas threatens Israel, “we know how to specify the location that hurts the occupation and how to press them.” Hamas has said that Mohammed Sinwar was targeted by Israel on several occasions and was briefly believed to have been killed in 2014. He is said to have been one of a handful of top commanders who knew about the October 7 attack in advance. In December 2023, the Israeli military released a video it said showed a bearded Mohammed Sinwar sitting next to a driver in a car as it moved inside a tunnel in the Gaza Strip. Hamas never confirmed what would be one of the few public images of him.

Israeli forces raided multiple foreign exchange businesses across the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing one Palestinian and injuring dozens in a widespread military operation that drew strong condemnation from Palestinian groups. The raids targeted exchange shops in several cities, including Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Arrabeh, el-Bireh, Bethlehem, Jenin, and Tubas, reports Al Jazeera. Residents reported that Israeli forces stormed the areas using live ammunition, tear gas, and smoke bombs. In Nablus, troops raided the Al-Khaleej Exchange Company and a nearby gold shop, while in Jenin, Israeli soldiers fired smoke bombs in the city center. Streets were also sealed off in Tubas and Bethlehem. According to the Ministry of Health based in Ramallah, one man was killed and eight others were injured by live fire during the raid in Nablus. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it treated 20 people for tear gas inhalation and three more for rubber bullet injuries. The operations coincided with Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, where over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, and tens of thousands continue to face starvation under siege conditions. Israeli Army Radio reported that the raids were conducted on suspicions that the exchange shops were linked to “terrorism,” claiming that large sums of money designated for “terrorism infrastructure” in the West Bank were confiscated. Syria's government and Kurds reach agreement on returning families from notorious camp At the Ramallah branch of Al-Khaleej Exchange, Israeli soldiers left a leaflet stating, “Israeli forces are taking action against Al-Khaleej Exchange Company due to its connections with terrorist organisations.” Meanwhile, Hamas denounced the Israeli raids, saying they “constitute a new chapter in the occupation’s open war against the Palestinian people, their lives, their economy, and all the foundations of their steadfastness and perseverance on their land”. “These assaults on economic institutions, accompanied by the looting of large sums of money and the confiscation of property, are an extension of the piracy policies adopted by the [Israeli] occupation government,” the Palestinian group said in a statement, adding that the targeted companies were “operating within the law”. Hamas urged the Palestinian Authority to take measures against the Israeli attacks. Separately, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement said the raids are “part of the open war against our people, targeting their very existence and cause”. The group also urged the Palestinian Authority to “defend” Palestinians from such attacks and “halt its policy of security coordination” with Israel.