Who was Mohammad Sinwar? The ‘ghost' who evaded multiple assassination attempts
Mohammad was the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas chief who was assassinated by Israel last year in Gaza. A hardliner who rose through the ranks of the group's armed wing in Khan Younis, he was also nicknamed the 'ghost' for surviving multiple assassination attempts by Israeli intelligence.
Born on September 15, 1975, Sinwar had rarely appeared in public or spoken to the media. His family was among the lakhs of Palestinians who escaped the Nakba, or catastrophe, during the birth of Israel during the 1948 war, and settled in the Gaza Strip.
The Sinwars settled in Khan Younis and Mohammad was educated in a school run by the United Nations Palestinian relief agency (UNRWA).
Also read | Who was Yahya Sinwar, the 'Butcher of Khan Younis'?
He joined Hamas shortly after the militant group's founding in 1987, and his reputation as a 'hardliner' helped him rise through the ranks, leading the Khan Younis Brigade, one of Hamas' strongest units in Gaza.
The Khan Younis Brigade led the 2006 cross-border attack and abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive for five years and swapped in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Yahya Sinwar was among those prisoners.
Mohammad also developed close ties with Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, and Mohammed Deif, the military chief assassinated by Israel.
Also read | 'This is how a hero dies': Gazans hail Yahya Sinwar after Israel attack
Hamas sources told Reuters that Mohammad Sinwar played a central role in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which was masterminded by his late brother. The attack is widely considered Israel's worst security failure, creating frictions within the establishment.
Once, he evaded a remote-controlled explosive resembling a brick that had been planted along his path to a cemetery. In 2003, a bomb was found planted in the wall of his house.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
‘Netanyahu's Massacre Network Worse Than Hitler'
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a scathing condemnation of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, accusing Prime Minister Netanyahu's government of "surpassing Hitler in barbarism." Speaking at a defense industry event in Istanbul, Erdogan called for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian aid. He emphasized the catastrophic conditions in Gaza, where over 2 million Palestinians face famine, mass displacement, and daily violence. He also condemned global silence, saying no one with human dignity can accept what is unfolding. His remarks come amid increasing international criticism of Israel's war, which has led to an ICC arrest warrant and mass protests worldwide.#erdogan #GazaCrisis #IsraelGazaWar #HumanitarianCrisis #CeasefireNow #FreePalestine #netanyahu #MiddleEastNews #IstanbulSpeech #WarCrimes Read More


Indian Express
31 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Harvard publisher cancels journal issue on Palestine, cites ‘a number of complex issues'
In the wake of the standoff between United States administration and Harvard University, the Harvard Education Publishing Group, a prestigious American education journal's publisher, last month, abruptly canceled the release of a special issue titled, 'education and Palestine,' The Guardian reported. The special issue, which was set to be published this summer was almost ready, as contracts with most authors were finalized and articles were edited, the report noted. On June 9, in an email to the issue's contributors, the publisher cited 'a number of complex issues', taking authors and editors by surprise, The Guardian learnt. This remarkable move comes amid an escalation of United States' confrontation with Harvard University, where it has warned that the elite institution could lose its accreditation over allegations related to 'antisemitism' on campus. Officials have accused elite universities in the US of fostering leftist ideologies and failing to protect Jewish students amid brewing tensions on campus. What did the special issue entail? The special issue of the journal covered topics such as the annihilation of Gaza's schools to the challenges of teaching about Israel and Palestine in the US. The issue was intended to promote 'scholarly conversation on education and Palestine amid repression, occupation, and genocide,' as per internal emails accessed by The Guardian. It included research articles, essays and other writings on topics ranging from education in Israel-Palestine and among the Palestinian diaspora, to academic freedom in the US. The journal articles explored the evolution of the concept of 'scholasticide', a term describing the systematic annihilation of education, first coined during Israel's 2008 invasion of Gaza; the 'ethical and educational responsibilities' of English language teachers in the West Bank; and the impact of 'crackdowns on dissent' on teaching about Palestine in US higher education institutions, according to finalized abstracts of the articles shared with The Guardian. What did the cancellation email state? The email sent to the body of authors and editors, announcing the cancellation of the issue, did not exactly cite 'antisemitism' as its reason. The executive director of the publishing group, Jessica Fiorillo, wrote that the decision stemmed from an 'inadequate review process' and the need for 'considerable copy editing'. Intimating them that the issue was being pulled altogether, Fiorillo claimed the manuscripts were 'unready for publication', in part due to a copy editor's resignation. She also cited an unspecified 'failure to adhere to an adequate review process', a 'lack of internal alignment' between the authors, editors and the publisher, and 'the lack of a clear and expedient path forward to resolving the myriad issues at play'. 'This difficult situation is exacerbated by very significant lack of agreement about the path forward, including and especially whether to publish such a special issue at this time,' she wrote in her email, as seen by The Guardian. She added that the cancellation was not 'due to censorship of a particular viewpoint nor does it connect to matters of academic freedom'. Chronology of the cancellation The speculations began when Rabea Eghbariah, a Palestinian doctoral candidate at Harvard Law School, and the writer of the afterword for the special issue, requested to amend his contract with the Harvard Educational Review (HER) to add a clause seeking to safeguard his academic freedom, which was later declined by the journal. Days later, the journal's editorial board wrote to the authors, citing an 'increasingly challenging climate' and asking for their availability for a meeting, which never ended up happening, as per The Guardian report. However, this was not the first time the publisher tried to pressurise the journal editors. In January this year, the editors were told that an 'institutional review' of the manuscripts would be required. Moreover, in February, the publisher attempted to alter the back cover of the spring issue promoting some of the forthcoming articles. As per an editor quoted by The Guardian, the publisher acknowledged that it was seeking a 'risk assessment' legal review by Harvard's counsel out of fear the issue's publication would prompt 'antisemitism' claims, which authors and editor referred to as an 'unprecedented' at that stage of publication. 'This sends a dangerous message to scholars globally: that academic publishing contracts are conditional, revocable, and subject to external political calculations,' they wrote in a letter to the journal's editorial board and publisher in the month of May. However, less than a month later, the special issue was pulled out entirely. Reacting to the move, one of the editors of the HER, said that the censorship of the issue is 'exactly how authoritarianism grows'. Next steps Many scholars have come to refer to the incident as the 'Palestine exception' to academic freedom. The authors are now in talks with other journals and are hopeful their pieces can be published as planned. The Guardian's interviewees, including authors and journal's editor, all expressed fear that the incident would deter other scholars from pursuing work on Palestine. Other steps taken by Trump administration against Harvard Harvard has been facing a brutal battle with the Trump administration, after it targeted the Ivy League University for failing to keep Jewish students safe and allowing antisemitism to flourish. Soon after university protests against Israel's war in Gaza gained traction, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sought information on various foreign national visa holders who have been a part of 'illegal and violent' activities within the campus. Eventually, the US Secretary of Homeland Security ordered the DHS to revoke Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification even after receiving a detailed list with the number and information of enrolled foreign students. In a letter to the university, the Secretary wrote that current students would need to transfer or risk losing their legal status. The University has so far managed to sue the administration on the matter, with Judge Burroughs issuing a ruling against Trump's June 4 proclamation, where he had said that any foreign national who enrolled at the university would be banned from entering the US. Harvard also sued the Trump administration in April this year against the funds freeze, saying the administration was using 'leverage to gain control of academic decision making at Harvard'. The New York Times reported about Harvard receiving seven stop-work orders for research awards between April 14 and May 6, after which 950 such orders totalling $2.4 billion were passed. Most recently, the US Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced that they had notified Harvard's accrediting agency that the university had potentially violated federal law by failing to address claims of harassment against Jewish students. Losing accreditation would have severe consequences, including making Harvard students ineligible for federal financial aid.


Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Inside Syria's sectarian cauldron: A kidnapping triggers a cascade of violence
For three days last week, Osama Bshnak Radwan and his family cowered in their townhouse as rockets, artillery and bullets pulverized their Syrian enclave. Then, five armed men in military fatigues arrived at their gate. 'Come out, Druze! Come out, you dogs!" the men shouted, according to Radwan, whose family belongs to the Druze religious minority that lives along Syria's southern border. The gunmen eventually left the gate but they entered the house next door, where they killed more than a dozen members of his extended family, he said. The killings were part of a wave of sectarian violence between Sunni Muslim Bedouins and Druze that swept through Sweida, a majority Druze province, last week. The fighting prompted Israeli warplanes to strike Syrian government forces in what Israel said was an attempt to defend the Druze. The clashes have exposed the seams in the patchwork of tribes, religions and ethnicities in Syria, where a fragile new government, dominated by Sunni Muslims, took power eight months ago. The violence lays bare the challenges of Israel's stated vision for Syria as a loose federation of autonomous states with a weak central government. Analysts say a lack of strong centralized rule will entrench sectarian divides. Even as Syria's fledgling leadership has gained international acceptance, sanctions relief and investment, it has struggled to protect its minorities and unify the nation. The divisions have sparked concerns that the nation could descend into further conflict, driven by deeply entrenched political, ethnic and religious schisms. On Tuesday, a fragile cease-fire—the fourth declared in a week—appeared to be holding amid pressure from the Trump administration, Turkey and Arab nations, though residents said Sweida remained tense. The fighting marked at least the fourth time sectarian strife has escalated into serious violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December. The Wall Street Journal reconstructed the events of last week's cascading violence through interviews with witnesses, community leaders and residents from both the Druze and Bedouin populations, as well as analysis of dozens of social-media posts and videos. For several centuries, the Bedouin and Druze, whose religion stems from an early offshoot of Shiite Islam, have lived together in southern Syria, at times sharing each other's traditions. They fought together against French colonialist rule in the 1920s. But the two communities have also clashed over land rights and other disputes. The current upheaval began on July 11 when an armed Bedouin gang kidnapped a Druze vegetable merchant, stealing his wares, car and roughly $700 in local currency. The man was beaten as his captors yelled religious insults. The merchant's relatives then kidnapped Bedouin tribal members in Sweida, leading Bedouin tribesmen to kidnap more than a dozen Druze. The tit-for-tat attacks escalated and by the time the merchant was released and tribal mediations began two days later, the violence had spread across Sweida province and attracted fighters from across the country. Hundreds of armed Arab Bedouin tribesmen descended on Sweida on July 13. They had to pass through dozens of government checkpoints, mostly run by Sunni Muslim forces, from as far away as Hama, Homs in the north, and on the other side of the country to the east near the Iraqi border in Deir Ezzour. There, dozens of young men were filmed entering a white trailer truck guarded by armed fighters. 'These are the people of Deir Ezzour," one man with a regional accent said in the video, according to footage verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal. 'We are coming for you Druze." Syrian government forces moved into Sweida to restore order but many Druze, who say the government collaborates with the Bedouins, saw their arrival as an invasion. Druze say they distrust Syria interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his forces—who are former al Qaeda-linked jihadists who toppled Assad—and describe their feelings of exclusion from the Sunni Muslim-dominated government. A spokesman for Sharaa's office didn't respond to a request for comment. In a July 19 televised address, Sharaa described the Bedouin tribes as "a symbol of noble values and principles," and praised their nationwide mobilization to defend their community. In the same speech, he referred to Druze militias as 'outlaws." Israel, which has a large Druze population, said the Syrian government's intervention was an attempt to harm Druze communities. Cultivating ties with Syria's Druze is an essential part of Israel's strategy to create a demilitarized buffer zone populated by Israel-friendly Druze along its border with southern Syria to prevent cross border attacks on Israeli citizens. The community, however, is divided over Israel's entry into Syria and the Sharaa government. Some fear being viewed as collaborators if they support Israel, while others say Israel's involvement keeps Syria weak. Some Druze say they want to give Syria's new leaders a chance to unify the nation. When Syrian government troops reached Sweida on July 14, their tanks came under attack from Israeli warplanes. Meanwhile, Druze militias battled both government forces and Bedouin fighters. Syria's Defense Ministry announced the death of at least six of its soldiers after an ambush by 'unlawful groups," a term they use to refer to Druze militias. On July 15, the next day, a government-announced cease-fire fell apart after influential Druze leader Hikmat al-Hijri—who has strong ties to the Druze in Israel—refused to give it his backing, accusing government forces of continued attacks against Druze civilians. 'We are being subjected to a campaign of complete extermination," he told his followers in a video. 'We must resist this barbaric assault with every means available." The surge of sectarian bloodletting intensified, as artillery and rockets pounded Sweida, with hundreds of Druze and Bedouin civilians killed, according to the United Nations. Thousands of Druze residents of Sweida fled toward the Jordanian border, while others escaped to the countryside. At Radwan's residence where he and his family hid, his 20-year-old daughter made a plea. ''Dad, for God's sake, if they get in and want to kill us, kill me yourself,'" Radwan recalls her saying. ''Strangle us, hit us on the head. Just don't let them be the ones to kill us.'" When the gunmen arrived at their compound, they fired and shouted 'Allahu akbar," meaning God is great, Radwan recalls. 'All of us were frozen," he says. 'We couldn't cry or make a sound. God protected us. They shut the gate and walked away." After gunfire next door, one of his wounded family members sent a voice message to the family WhatsApp group. 'Only a few are still breathing," the family member said in the message heard by the Journal. The men killed at least 13 members of Radwan's family that day. On Friday, Volker Türk, U.N. High Commissioner for human rights, said that his office had documented the attack. 'Armed individuals affiliated with the interim authorities deliberately opened fire at a family gathering," he wrote. A spokesperson for Sharaa's office didn't respond to a request for comment. By the end of July 15, bodies were piling up outside the main hospital in Sweida, according to video footage verified by Storyful. The hospital itself was attacked by armed groups, killing and wounding medical staff, according to the U.N. The next day, Israel turned up the pressure, using its warplanes to strike the military headquarters in Damascus and areas near the presidential palace, taking the spiraling violence to a new phase. Syria's leadership and some of Sweida's top Druze leaders later reached a more comprehensive cease-fire deal calling for Sweida province to be integrated into the Syrian state and for Druze factions and religious leaders to maintain security. Hijri again rejected the offer. The violence raged on. The government later agreed to pull its forces from Sweida, following mediation with Israel conducted by the U.S., Turkey and Syria's Arab neighbors. 'After government forces withdrew, we began recovering the bodies," said Wajiha Hajjar, a prominent Druze lawyer in Sweida who returned to the province on Friday after having fled to the Jordanian border. 'There were summary executions where people were dragged from their homes and shot in the streets." she said. 'Villages in the western countryside were gone. Homes were burned down." Other residents described similar scenes. Once government forces pulled back, some Druze militias renewed attacks on Bedouin neighborhoods, including targeting children, according to Bedouin community leaders and residents. 'The Druze, the Hijri, have displaced us from our homes and burned down mosques," said Nahi Sweiti, 27 years old, a Bedouin farmer and sheep herder, using a term to describe Hijri's followers. 'After the defense forces pulled out from Sweida, the armed gangs of Hijri started killing and executing people from the tribes, regardless of whether it was men, women, or children." More Bedouin fighters left Deir Ezzour for Sweida. Some said they were coming for Hijri. Sharaa said that Syrian troops had withdrawn from Sweida to de-escalate tensions but that the 'horrifying campaign of violence" that had followed 'constituted a clear violation of those understandings." He promised to 'hold accountable all those who committed crimes and violated the law—regardless of their affiliation." A top Hijri militia leader denied the accusations. 'There were reactions, but to kill and slaughter this did not happen," said Firoz Naeem in an interview. The government, he said, is colluding with the Bedouin to target Hijri to divide the Druze. 'We are open to dialogue with all communities, but someone who calls you a disbeliever, an infidel, how are we going to feel safe?" Naeem added. 'We have a legitimate right to defend ourselves." Over the weekend, after another cease-fire mediated by the U.S., Syrian forces returned to Sweida to try to restore order. Israel stopped its air campaign on the condition that the Druze would be protected. The truce remains fragile amid an emerging humanitarian crisis, including nearly 100,000 people displaced, says the U.N. Sectarian hate speech targeting both Druze and Bedouin remains rampant online. Syria's Interior Ministry this week said the government had begun evacuating hundreds of Bedouin families from Sweida in buses toward Daraa, a province where Sunni Muslims dominate. Write to Sudarsan Raghavan at