A commander in the Israeli Air Force unit “Nahalat Binyamin” described how intelligence enabled a narrow-window strike that killed Hamas leaders Mohammed Sinwar and Mohammed Shabana in a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis. The report says the tunnel ran west to east under the hospital, with its underground command center only 10 to 20 meters from the emergency room, and one shaft located at the edge of the ambulance area.
According to the account, the airstrike plan was prepared in advance, but the final decision came only after urgent intelligence arrived. The political echelon approved the assassination, and the unit had just minutes to act. The aim was to destroy the tunnel entrance points and kill everyone inside without harming patients, the building, or the hospital’s equipment.
Because there was no time to wait for other aircraft, fighter jets already armed and on their way to Yemen were diverted to the Gaza operation. Pilots received a rapid briefing on the approach angles so the bombs would hit multiple points simultaneously and collapse the tunnel. The commander said the strike lasted less than 20 seconds and destroyed the target with precision.
Hamas then tried to send a bulldozer to rescue the trapped leaders, but another aircraft destroyed the bulldozer. In parallel, Golani Brigade troops advanced quickly toward the hospital area and captured it, preventing Hamas from removing the bodies. The article also quotes the commander recalling another campaign, saying the unit pulled out old strike plans against the Syrian army, updated them, and, in his words, “within a short time we destroyed the entire Syrian army.”
