The head of the Palestine-based resistance group Hamas, Yahya Sinwar was killed on Thursday, October 17, during an Israeli ground operation in occupied southern Gaza. The autopsy conducted within 24 to 36 hours following the operation, revealed chilling details about the circumstances of Sinwar’s death.
It confirmed that Yahya Sinwar died from a gunshot wound to the head which caused server bleeding. Additionally, he had sustained significant injuries, including a smashed forearm likely caused by shrapnel from a missile or tank shell.
Details of the autopsy
According to the CNN reports, the chief pathologist at the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Israel, Dr Chen Kugel, conducted the autopsy of the body and determined that Sinwar had tried to stop the bleeding from his arm using an electric cord, however, it was ineffective. The injury to his forearm was so severe that it would not have been treated with such a makeshift tourniquet.
Furthermore, to ensure that it was indeed Sinwar’s body, Israeli soldiers cut off one of his fingers to compare with the DNA databases collected when he was imprisoned in Israel between 1991 and 2011. Kugel explained that initial efforts to recognize him through dental records were unsuccessful due to which DNA comparison was carried out.
“The troops first attempted to identify him with his teeth but that wasn’t “certified enough”. Then after the laboratory made the profile, we compared it with the profile that Sinwar had in the term that he was serving here as a prisoner, so then we could finally identify him by his DNA”, Kugel was quoted by CNN.
Details of the operation
Yahya Sinwa was killed in an operation conducted in the Tel al-Sultan area of Rafah that was executed by the 828 Brigade. The Israeli forces confirmed they found Sinwar’s body after conducting drone scans of the targeted area.
The reports indicate that the operation was unplanned. Israeli forces had been actively searching for him and had gradually restricted his operational area. Israeli military footage also reportedly recorded Sinwar in his last moments, where he was seriously injured. Soon after the Israeli army reportedly launched another strike and killed him.
Sinwar’s death is viewed as a massive blow to the Hamas fighter group, which has already lost several high-ranking leaders in recent months.
Khalil Al-Hayya, Sinwar’s deputy, said that hostages detained by Hamas will only be released when Israeli forces exit Gaza and a cease-fire is reached. Meanwhile, speculations arise about who will succeed Sinwar as Hamas seeks new leadership outside Gaza.
“Israeli forces have to withdraw from the besieged and bombarded territory (for the war to end),” said the Hamas leader in a statement, announcing Sinwar’s death.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the assassination as potentially indicating the “dawn of the epoch of the decline of Hamas” in the Middle East.
The 62-year-old Yahya Sinwar was one of the key architects of Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. He was appointed as the group’s top leader following the July killing of Ismael Haniyeh in a suspected Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran.
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