An autopsy by Israel has found that Yahya Sinwar was killed by a gunshot to the head. An expert at the Israel National Centre of Forensic Medicine has said the Hamas leader’s body reached them with a finger cut off.
Chen Kugel, chief pathologist, told CNN in an interview that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cut off Sinwar’s finger for DNA analysis. He said he is “100 percent” certain about the identity of the body sent to the laboratory and in his assessment of the gunshot being the cause of death. He added that the Hamas leader also suffered other injuries, including from a tank shell.
“We compared the DNA sample sent to us with the profile of Sinwar that was there in our laboratory records from the time when he was a prisoner here,” Kugel told CNN. He said the IDF troops first tried to identify him with dental records but that was not “certified enough”.
In a video shared by the (IDF), a tank is seen firing at the building where Sinwar’s body was found. There are reports that Sinwar was killed in an intelligence-based ground raid in southern Gaza by the 828 Brigade of the IDF that was operating in the Tel al-Sultan area of Rafah.
In other videos shared by the Israeli military on social media, there are two soldiers standing next to a body (claimed to be Sinwar’s) with the index finger missing. The CNN said they analysed videos that showed his left hand with all five fingers intact, and then later with one finger missing.
Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 attacks on Israel, triggered the war in Gaza and was killed on October 16 in a gunfight with Israeli forces after a year-long manhunt. His death was announced on October 17.
There is a video of some of his final minutes, showing him masked and wounded in a shell-smashed apartment trying to hurl a stick at a drone. “He died a hero, attacking not fleeing, clutching his rifle, and engaging against the occupation army at the front line,” a Hamas statement mourning Sinwar’s death said, adding that his death will only strengthen the movement and they will not compromise on conditions to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel.
The attack planned on Israel a year ago killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with another 253 dragged back to Gaza as hostages, as per Israeli tallies. The subsequent war has devastated Gaza, killing more than 42,000 Palestinians, with another 10,000 uncounted dead thought to lie under the rubble, said Gaza health authorities.
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