ISRAELI MEDIA REPORTING DNA TEST CONDUCTED TO CONFIRM IDENTITY OF KILLED FIGHTER

Thu 17 October 2024:

An Israeli security official has told AFP news agency that the military was conducting a DNA test on a fighter’s body to confirm whether it was Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reporting from Amman, Jordan

We’re now hearing more through leaks in Israeli media. There was an incident where the Israeli army identified three gunmen in Tal as-Sultan, an area in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

They engaged those three gunmen and killed them, and only then did they suspect that one of those fighters was, in fact, Yahya Sinwar. According to some reports, the body has been taken back inside Israel.

It’s now in Jerusalem in order to conduct DNA testing to confirm the identity of that fighter. In question, there are strong indications, at least in the Israeli media, they are almost certain that it is Yahya Sinwar.

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But we have – it’s very important to point this out – no official confirmation from the Israeli side and no word yet from Hamas. Until we hear from them we can’t confirm with certainty that that assassination has actually taken place or has been successful.

We can also tell you that the prime minister of Israel has asked his military secretary to contact the families of the Israeli captives, to tell them that the captives were not in the vicinity of that gunfight when it happened.

And this is really important because it reminds everybody that now, perhaps, if this assassination is confirmed, the fate of the Israeli captives who remain in Gaza, many of whom remain alive, will be more in doubt.

Who will the Israelis talk to? Who will the mediators try to reach a deal with? This is the second time Israel targets the top leader of Hamas while it’s still seeking to reach a deal to free the Israeli captives held in Gaza.

Photos circulate online of slain who Israeli officials believe was Sinwar

Photos are circulating widely online of the slain Hamas leader who the Israeli security establishment believes with high likelihood was Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

GRAPHIC WARNING

Photos out of Gaza on the interwebs purport to document the corpse of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Is he really dead? We’ll soon know. For early confirmation, watch for an announcement of an official period of mourning from Harvard, Columbia, and UCLA. pic.twitter.com/kgtkgNspOZ

— Mike (@Doranimated) October 17, 2024

Israel security official confirms army DNA testing fighter’s body: Report

An Israeli security official has told AFP news agency that the military was conducting a DNA test on a fighter’s body to confirm whether it was Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.

“The Israeli military is conducting DNA tests on a body of a militant to confirm whether it is Sinwar,” the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media on the issue.

Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg says the possibility of Sinwar being killed is a “meaningful event” for Israel so the army would not want to officially announce it until they’re “105 percent sure”.

“If Israel has managed to kill Yahya Sinwar that might be the only event on the ground that could potentially get Israel to stop decimating Gaza. That is the symbolic achievement Israel has been looking for,” Goldberg told Al Jazeera.

“Israel has been fighting in Gaza ultimately without any sort of clear plan except to kill as many Hamas operatives as possible and destroy as much … as possible,” he added.

Who is Yahya Sinwar?

Yahya Sinwar was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza in 1962.
His family were refugees from Majdal Askalan, or what became Ashkelon, after the creation of Israel in 1948.
Sinwar spent 22 years of his life in Israeli prisons, for allegedly planning the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1988. He was freed in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
An Israeli government assessment of his years in detention described him as “ruthless” and “powerful”.
He used his time in jail to become fluent in Hebrew.
Sinwar succeeded Ismail Haniyeh as Hamas’s leader in Gaza in 2017.
After the October 7 attack in southern Israel, which he is accused of masterminding, the Israeli military described him as a “dead man walking”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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