Coordinated Israeli bombing of the European Hospital in Gaza killed 28 people on Tuesday in what local media reported as an attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar.
The attack came as Israeli officials face pressure from the United States to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal, with President Donald Trump touring the Middle East.
Hamas on Monday released an American hostage after negotiating directly with the U.S. — sidelining Israel — in what Trump called a “good faith step” toward ending the war.
Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff met with the families of Israeli hostages on Tuesday after having slammed Israel for prolonging the war the day before. Israeli negotiators head to Doha for peace talks on Wednesday, with Witkoff saying he’s optimistic that progress will be achieved, per local media.
It’s not clear if Trump, who will also be in Qatar on Wednesday, will meet directly or indirectly, or at all, with Israeli and Hamas negotiators.
The Israel Defense Forces, announcing the Tuesday Gaza attack, claimed a Hamas command and control center was located beneath the hospital. Israeli media, citing military sources, reported the strike targeted Mohammed Sinwar, brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed last October.
Mohammed Sinwar became Hamas leader after his brother’s death, and CNN reported his sign-off would be needed to seal any potential ceasefire agreement. His name was not among the list of dead released by local authorities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
The BBC reported that the bombing killed 28 people, adding that a freelance journalist it employed had been injured in the strike, along with dozens of others.
Another journalist, Hassan Aslih, was killed in a separate Israeli strike on a different hospital in Gaza on Tuesday. Israel accused Aslih, who had hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, of working with Hamas. He had been recovering in Nasser Hospital following a previous attempt to kill him, Reuters reported.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says 138 journalists have been killed since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas. Most are Palestinian, as Israel has banned foreign media from the Gaza Strip.
The European Hospital was built using European Union funds. It is one of the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza after over 18 months of Israeli bombing.
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