Israel DNA-testing body from Gaza to see if it’s Yahya Sinwar
Deir al-Balah: The Israeli military said on Thursday it was looking into whether Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in a military
operation in Gaza. Authorities were conducting DNA tests on a body to determine if it is him, an Israeli security official said.
The military said in a statement that three militants were killed during operations in Gaza, without specifying where or elaborating further.
It said the identities of the three were so far not confirmed, but it was “checking the possibility” that one of them was Sinwar.
The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the tests on the body had not yet confirmed if it was Sinwar’s.
There was no immediate comment by Hamas on the report.
Sinwar was one of the chief architects of Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel has vowed to kill him since the beginning of its retaliatory campaign in Gaza.
If confirmed, Sinwar’s death could be a heavy blow to the militant group.
He has been Hamas’ top leader inside the Gaza Strip for years, closely connected to its military wing while dramatically building up its capabilities.
Sinwar was chosen as Hamas’s top leader after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in July in an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.
Israel has also claimed to have killed the head of Hamas’ military wing Mohammed Deif in an airstrike, but the group has said he survived.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on Israel’s investigation into whether it killed Sinwar, and US officials have been in close contact with Israeli officials throughout Thursday morning, according to a senior administration official.
The report came as Israeli forces continued a more than week-old major air and ground assault in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
On Thursday, an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing at least 15 people, including five children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Fares Abu Hamza, head of Gaza Health Ministry’s local emergency unit, said dozens of people were wounded.
He said the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was struggling to treat the
casualties.
