JERUSALEM/GAZA/CAIRO/BEIRUT - The Israeli military said on Sunday it had recovered the body of Mohammed Sinwar, head of Hamas' military wing, from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip and taken it to Israel.

In a statement, the military said that following an identification process, it had confirmed that "the body of Mohammed Sinwar was located in the underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis."

Sinwar and Muhammad Shabaneh, commander of Hamas' Rafah Brigade, were killed in the tunnel on May 13 by the Israeli military and the Shin Bet intelligence agency, according to the statement.

The bodies were found during a raid in the area that began on Wednesday under heavy airstrikes. The raid was still ongoing, the military added.

"During searches in the underground tunnel route, several items belonging to Sinwar and Shabaneh were located, along with additional intelligence findings that were transferred for further investigation," it said, without providing further details.

Additional bodies were recovered during the operation, and their identities are under examination, the military added.

In late May, the Israeli military first said Sinwar had been killed in an airstrike. Gaza health authorities said the strike killed at least six people and wounded 40.

Sinwar, 49, was described by the Israeli military as one of Hamas' most senior and long-serving commanders, playing a central role in the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

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He was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader in Gaza, who was killed by the Israeli military in October 2024.

Israeli attacks have continued to claim Palestinian lives, bringing the death toll in the enclave to 54,880 since October 2023, Gaza's health authorities announced on Sunday, adding 126,227 others have been injured.

5 killed near Gaza aid sites

On Saturday, at least five Palestinians were killed and more than 100 wounded by Israeli gunfire near two aid distribution points in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, citing health officials and witnesses.

The shooting occurred around 6 am (0300 GMT) as large crowds gathered near a food distribution center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the southern city of Rafah. The site, set up with support from both Israel and the United States, was scheduled to open Saturday morning.

Four bodies were later taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to hospital staff. Witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire near a roundabout roughly 1 km from the GHF aid site. Another Palestinian was reported killed near a separate distribution point in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said its forces had fired warning shots at "suspects" who approached troops and ignored repeated calls to retreat. It described the area as part of an active combat zone during nighttime hours.

Saturday's incident is the latest in a series of fatal episodes near aid sites in Gaza, where food insecurity has grown acute amid the ongoing conflict. Israeli authorities have previously accused Hamas, the Islamist group that governs Gaza, of disrupting aid deliveries and attempting to seize supplies.

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Vowing to block Gaza aid flotilla

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the military to prevent an aid ship, the Madleen, from reaching the Gaza Strip.

The vessel, part of the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition, is carrying activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, and humanitarian supplies. Organizers said the ship was in international waters off the coast of Egypt and expected to approach Gaza's coastline later in the day.

"The flotilla is led by a gang of antisemitic and anti-Israel Hamas propagandists, and they will not reach the coast of Gaza," Katz said in a statement, directly addressing the activists. "Turn back now."

He instructed the Israeli Navy to intercept the vessel and "take any necessary measures" to stop it, asserting that Israel would not permit any violation of the maritime blockade, which he said is aimed at preventing weapons from reaching Hamas.

Ceasefire efforts

During a phone call on Sunday with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed Cairo's ongoing efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.

The two ministers discussed the "brutal Israeli aggression" in Gaza and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Abdelatty highlighted Egypt's role in pushing for a ceasefire, the release of hostages and detainees, and the delivery of humanitarian, medical, and shelter aid to Gaza.

Turkiye has not issued an official statement, but Turkish media, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, said Fidan also spoke with his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts on Sunday to discuss developments in Gaza and efforts to end the conflict. 

Drone strike in southern Syria

Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had carried out a drone strike in southern Syria, targeting a Hamas member.

The strike took place near Mazraat Beit Jin, close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the military said in a statement. It did not identify the individual targeted.

Hamas did not immediately respond to the issue.

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Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said an Israeli drone struck a car near a farm in the Mazraat Beit Jin. One man was injured and taken to the hospital, the monitor said.

The strike followed an earlier Israeli air operation last Tuesday, its first in Syria in nearly a month. At the time, the Israeli military said it targeted Syrian government weapons facilities in retaliation for two projectiles launched toward Israel from Syrian territory.

Hezbollah member killed in southern Lebanon

Meanwhile, Hezbollah member was killed and three Lebanese civilians were injured on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a motorcycle on the Chehabiyeh-Kfar Dounin road in southern Lebanon, security and civil defense sources said.

A Lebanese security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Xinhua that the victim was identified as Ali Shafiq Qanso, a Hezbollah member from the town of Chehabiyeh. He added that three civilians happened to be passing by at the time of the airstrike.

A source from Lebanon's Civil Defense told Xinhua that rescue teams had transported the victim's body and three injured individuals to a hospital in the southern city of Tyre, adding that one of the wounded is in critical condition.

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According to Lebanon's official National News Agency, an Israeli drone hit a motorcycle with two missiles on the Chehabiyeh-Kfar Dounin road, resulting in one fatality and several injuries.