Yahya Sinwar, the new head of Hamas, is rumored to be dead
Last Updated on October 18, 2024 6:51 am
Yahya Sinwar, the new head of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, is rumored to be dead. Several Israeli media reported on Thursday that Sinwar had been killed.
Three photos of a Palestinian fighter who looks like Sinwar have also gone viral on social media.
An Israeli security official told news agency AFP that the military was conducting DNA tests on the body of a fighter to confirm whether the dead man was Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.
The official, who did not want to be named, said that the body of the fighter, who looked like Sinwar, was taken to Israel and the DNA of the body was tested.
Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg said the possibility of Sinwar being killed is a “significant event” for Israel, so the military does not want to officially announce it until it is “105 percent certain.”
Israeli media Channel-12 reported that Israeli soldiers saw some Hamas fighters entering a building in Rafah, Gaza on Wednesday. Then orders were given to attack there. After the attack, troops went there and found the body of a warrior who looked like Sinwar. They did not know if Sinwar was in the building or not.
Al Jazeera is publishing news from Jordan due to restrictions in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
“We have received a statement from the Israeli military and intelligence agencies that they have targeted a building and killed three Hamas leaders,” the media’s live scroll said. It is being verified whether one of them is actually Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. It is still not certain. We haven’t heard from Hamas either.
Even Israeli military sources say it may take several hours for them to confirm whether the assassination was indeed successful. But if it is correct, it will be the second head of the Hamas movement to be killed during the war.