Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Muhammad Sinwar, was targeted in a major Israeli airstrike at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon, security sources said.

The Israel Defense Forces, in a statement, said it had targeted Hamas operatives at an underground command center belonging to the terror group, below the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

Footage posted online showed several large plumes of smoke rising from the ground around the hospital, as Israeli Air Force fighter jets dropped at least nine bombs. Other clips showed that the ground had collapsed in the area of the strike.

The Hamas-run health ministry reported 16 dead and over 70 wounded in the strike, though there was no immediate word if Sinwar was among the casualties.

Security sources said the military was working to confirm if the assassination attempt was successful. If Sinwar was indeed in the tunnel, as the military’s intelligence indicated, he was likely killed, the sources said, adding that there was a small window of opportunity for the strike.

The IDF said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including by using precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

“The Hamas terror organization continues to use hospitals in the Gaza Strip for terror purposes, cynically and cruelly exploiting the civilian population in and around the hospital,” the military said.

Several hours after the initial attack, Palestinian media reported additional strikes in the area of the hospital, in what appeared to be an attempt by the IDF to prevent anyone from approaching the tunnel where Sinwar was targeted.

Sinwar, a senior Hamas military commander, is the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Following the killing of Hamas’s top military commander, Muhammad Deif, Muhammad Sinwar took charge of the terror group’s military wing. Later, after Sinwar’s older brother was killed by IDF troops, he became the de facto leader of the terror group in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials have described Muhammad Sinwar as obstinate with regard to negotiations with Hamas for the release of hostages, and an obstacle to reaching a ceasefire deal.

The younger Sinwar is also wanted for terrorist actions against Israel and has been active in Hamas for decades.

He was jailed by Israel in the 1990s for nine months and spent an additional three years in a Palestinian Authority prison in Ramallah, from which he escaped in 2000. In 2006, Sinwar was part of a Hamas cell that abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. He also previously commanded Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade.

Most of Hamas’s leadership has been eliminated by Israel during the ongoing war, sparked by the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Nurit Yohanan contributed to this report.