Gaza commander’s death could mark fall of October 7th plotters

The death of Hamas’s senior military commander, Mohammad Sinwar, signals the collapse of the covert leadership that masterminded the October 7th 2023 assault on Israel, the BBC reported on 12th June.

Israeli forces confirmed his death following a strike on a tunnel beneath Khan Younis’s European Hospital, marking the near-total destruction of what had been Hamas’s strategic core, NBC reported on June 14th.

This shadowy inner circle, known as the War Council, had functioned with strict operational secrecy. Its members, including Sinwar’s brother Yahya, military chief Mohammad Deif, deputy commander Marwan Issa, and a fifth unidentified figure, relied on secure intermediaries and outdated communications technology to avoid detection.

Their coordination produced the most devastating Hamas attack in history, an event that shocked the region and reshaped the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Israel has systematically dismantled this leadership. Israeli attacks over the past year killed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and Issa. The fifth member now reportedly lies incapacitated following an earlier strike. The War Council’s fall has left Hamas without its core leadership, with much of its command structure disrupted and its political base under pressure since leaders vanished from Qatar late last year.

The October 7th assault, years in planning, drew global attention for its scale and brutality. Still, Israel continues to claim that Hamas is using Gaza’s suffering as a weapon, Al-Monitor via AFP reported on June 12th. Yet its strategic logic remains opaque. Hamas had long drained Gaza’s fragile economy to build up military strength, but few foresaw the extent or consequences of the operation.

For many Palestinians, it now resembles a catastrophic miscalculation, an act of defiance that unleashed massive suffering and international isolation. In the aftermath, Hamas faces internal fragmentation.

BBC, NBC, Al-Monitor via AFP, Maghrebi.org