Jerusalem, June 9 : The Israeli military said that 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 on Sunday 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, the statement said.

The bodies were found during a raid in the area that began on Wednesday under heavy airstrikes. The raid was still ongoing, Xinhua news agency reported.

"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 October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

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.

/IANS