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Autopsy Shows Hamas Leader, Yahya Sinwar, Was Killed by a Gunshot to the Head

Mr. Sinwar had also been hit in the arm during a firefight earlier with Israeli soldiers, according to the Israeli doctor who oversaw the autopsy. Hamas confirmed its leader’s death but said his “banner will not fall.”
Published Oct. 18, 2024Updated Oct. 20, 2024

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Israelis and Palestinians React to Assassination of Hamas Leader
While some Israelis expressed hope that the war might end soon, many Palestinians were doubtful that the death of Yahya Sinwar would lead to a cease-fire.

“We are kind of, let’s say, happy to see some kind of justice, to see that Sinwar is dead now. But as I said, what’s most important is that we want to see all the hostages coming back.” “The leader is gone now. But this does not solve the problem. The problem now is that all the hostages that Hamas have in Gaza, and it depends now on the Israeli government.” “I hope it’s going to bring peace as soon as possible. And quiet, and not a war. The war should stop, and I hope it’s going to be positive stage for the State of Israel.”

Israelis and Palestinians React to Assassination of Hamas Leader
2:22
While some Israelis expressed hope that the war might end soon, many Palestinians were doubtful that the death of Yahya Sinwar would lead to a cease-fire.CreditCredit...Mohammed Huwais/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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Liam StackJim Tankersley and Aaron Boxerman
Here are the latest developments.

The leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, according to the director of Israel’s national forensic institute, Dr. Chen Kugel, who oversaw the autopsy and described its findings in an interview with The New York Times on Friday.

He said that shrapnel, possibly from either a small missile or tank shell, had earlier hit Mr. Sinwar’s arm, causing bleeding that he was trying to stanch by using an electrical cord as an impromptu tourniquet. “But it wouldn’t have worked in any case,” Mr. Kugel said. “It wasn’t strong enough, and his forearm was smashed.”

Several points remained unclear, including who fired the shot, when and with what weapon.

Hamas confirmed the killing of Mr. Sinwar in a televised eulogy on Friday by his longtime deputy, Khalil al-Hayya, who said the loss had changed nothing for the armed group or its war with Israel. The remarks by Mr. al-Hayya stood in contrast to the optimism expressed a short time earlier by President Biden, who said Mr. Sinwar’s death presented “an opportunity to seek a path to peace” in the yearlong war in Gaza.

“We are continuing Hamas’s path,” Mr. al-Hayya, who lives in exile in Qatar, said in the group’s first official comments about Mr. Sinwar’s killing by Israeli forces, adding that the slain leader’s “banner will not fall.”

Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday, Mr. Biden called Mr. Sinwar’s death “a moment of justice” and a chance at “a better future in Gaza without Hamas.” He plans to send Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to Israel in the coming days to discuss securing Gaza and postwar planning, an effort to jump-start cease-fire talks that have been stalled for months.

The president spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, whose office said that both leaders had agreed there was an “opportunity to advance the release of the hostages” captured in last year’s Hamas-led attacks in Israel as part of a cease-fire deal. Dozens of hostages are still being held by Hamas and its allies in Gaza.

Mr. Sinwar orchestrated the Hamas assault on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed up to 1,200 people, captured some 250 hostages and prompted an Israeli retaliation that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left much of the Gaza Strip in ruin.

He was considered the driving force behind Hamas’s refusal to surrender, and his survival made it impossible for Israel to declare victory. But after Mr. Sinwar’s killing, Mr. Netanyahu made it clear that he would continue to direct the Israeli military to pursue Hamas. “This is not the end of the war in Gaza,” he said in a video address. “It is the beginning of the end.”

Here’s what else to know:

Relief in Gaza: Many war-weary Palestinians in Gaza reacted to Mr. Sinwar’s death with relief on Thursday. Some in Khan Younis, his hometown, expressed hope that the war might soon end, while others blamed him for starting the conflict by organizing the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

Unlikely find: For over a year, Israel’s security establishment, backed by the United States, dedicated vast resources to its hunt for Mr. Sinwar, who was thought to be hiding in Hamas’s tunnel network under Gaza. Ultimately, a unit of trainee squad commanders unexpectedly encountered Mr. Sinwar above ground while on an operation in southern Gaza.

Netanyahu weighs push: Mr. Netanyahu, directing remarks on Thursday toward Palestinians in Gaza, said that the war could end “tomorrow,” if Hamas laid down its arms and returned the hostages. Hamas has survived the deaths of many previous leaders, and Mr. Netanyahu must still weigh a renewed push for a hostage deal against the priorities of his allies in government who want him to continue the war

Hamas’s next steps: Mr. Sinwar’s killing was a powerful blow to a violent organization that had already seen several senior leaders killed since the war in Gaza began. Though few experts expect Hamas to collapse, they said his elimination could cause a leadership vacuum and more chaos in its ranks. It remained unclear when Hamas would announce a successor.

Hostage families react: For the families and supporters of the hostages remaining in Gaza, the killing of Mr. Sinwar, their chief captor, brought both a moment of satisfaction and deep trepidation over the fate of the captives.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister accused Iran on Friday of meddling in the country’s affairs, opening up a rare diplomatic spat after Iran’s parliament speaker remarked that his country was ready to help negotiate terms to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The reported remarks amounted to “a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs,” said the prime minister, Najib Mikati, who later summoned Tehran’s envoy to answer for them — a highly unusual rebuke by a top Lebanese official given the stranglehold that Iran-backed Hezbollah has on the country.

In an interview published by France’s Le Figaro newspaper a day earlier, the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, was quoted as saying that his government was ready to negotiate with France on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, a U.N. agreement that ended the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 and is seen as a precondition for a cease-fire in Lebanon.

“The issue of negotiating to implement international resolution 1701 is being undertaken by the Lebanese state,” Mr. Mikati said in response, referring to the U.N. agreement. “Everyone is required to support it in this direction, not to seek to impose new mandates.”

The 2006 agreement called for a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and said that only the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers could operate militarily in southern Lebanon. It has widely been considered ineffective but has come into focus again during the current conflict.

Since the Hamas-led attack into Israel last year, Israel has been exchanging cross-border fire with Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party. The conflict has escalated sharply in recent weeks, leading Israel to invade southern Lebanon in a bid to destroy the group’s border infrastructure.

Although Mr. Ghalibaf’s chief adviser, Mahdi Mohammadi, later denied the remarks, it was too late to defuse the diplomatic tensions and Tehran’s envoy in Beirut was summoned to offer clarification. Lebanese officials stressed during the meeting that the country needed to preserve its sovereignty as it pursued a diplomatic solution to the conflict, according to a statement by Lebanon’s foreign ministry.

Mr. Mikati has repeatedly affirmed his government’s commitment to the full implementation of the U.N. agreement in an attempt to bring an end to the violence in Lebanon that has killed thousands and displaced over one million. However, Lebanon’s crisis-racked caretaker government is deemed largely powerless to rein in Hezbollah.

Did Sinwar kill himself at the end or was the head injury sustained before dat?

(21-10-2024, 03:33 PM)luncheonmeat Wrote: [ -> ]Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister accused Iran on Friday of meddling in the country’s affairs, opening up a rare diplomatic spat after Iran’s parliament speaker remarked that his country was ready to help negotiate terms to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The reported remarks amounted to “a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs,” said the prime minister, Najib Mikati, who later summoned Tehran’s envoy to answer for them — a highly unusual rebuke by a top Lebanese official given the stranglehold that Iran-backed Hezbollah has on the country.

In an interview published by France’s Le Figaro newspaper a day earlier, the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, was quoted as saying that his government was ready to negotiate with France on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, a U.N. agreement that ended the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 and is seen as a precondition for a cease-fire in Lebanon.

“The issue of negotiating to implement international resolution 1701 is being undertaken by the Lebanese state,” Mr. Mikati said in response, referring to the U.N. agreement. “Everyone is required to support it in this direction, not to seek to impose new mandates.”

The 2006 agreement called for a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and said that only the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers could operate militarily in southern Lebanon. It has widely been considered ineffective but has come into focus again during the current conflict.

Since the Hamas-led attack into Israel last year, Israel has been exchanging cross-border fire with Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party. The conflict has escalated sharply in recent weeks, leading Israel to invade southern Lebanon in a bid to destroy the group’s border infrastructure.

Although Mr. Ghalibaf’s chief adviser, Mahdi Mohammadi, later denied the remarks, it was too late to defuse the diplomatic tensions and Tehran’s envoy in Beirut was summoned to offer clarification. Lebanese officials stressed during the meeting that the country needed to preserve its sovereignty as it pursued a diplomatic solution to the conflict, according to a statement by Lebanon’s foreign ministry.

Mr. Mikati has repeatedly affirmed his government’s commitment to the full implementation of the U.N. agreement in an attempt to bring an end to the violence in Lebanon that has killed thousands and displaced over one million. However, Lebanon’s crisis-racked caretaker government is deemed largely powerless to rein in Hezbollah.

All this while, Lebanon do not wish to hv war with Israel. It is Iran who planted the hezbollah there becos it is closest to Israel border. Sad to say that Lebanon govt is weak as they are manipulated and controlled by hezbollah militia. Lebanon civilians hv to suffer the brunt of Israel attacks.

(21-10-2024, 03:44 PM)luncheonmeat Wrote: [ -> ]Did Sinwar kill himself at the end or was the head injury sustained before dat?

I doubt so.