The Israeli army and domestic intelligence services confirmed Thursday the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinouar after strikes on Rafah.
Published on 19/10/2024 07:05
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He was considered the “architect” of the attacks of October 7, 2023. Yahya Sinouar was killed while taking refuge in a building in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. According to several Israeli media, his body is in a secret location after being autopsied. According to the autopsy report, he was killed by a gunshot to the head and shelling. The Jewish state could keep his body for years and use it as a bargaining chip in the event of renewed negotiations with Hamas.
The remains of Yahya Sinouar are not the only body of Palestinian militiamen from Hamas or other armed groups preserved in Israel. Many detainees have died behind bars; their bodies are requested by their families but not returned to them. “Since the 2014 war, when Hamas captured two soldiers, Israel has begun preserving the bodies of Palestinians, explains Nadji Abbas heads the prisoners department for the Israeli association Physicians for Human Rights. People who died in the West Bank, Gaza and prisoners who died in police custody. Israel refuses to return the remains to the families for burial.”
He adds that “This is the official policy of the Israeli army. When there is an exchange with Hamas, when there is an agreement, it should include the dead.” And obviously in this hypothesis, the body of Yahya Sinouar will have particular value. According to the Addammeer association which lists the number of Palestinian prisoners in the occupied territories, Israel kept, less than two months ago, in cemeteries or refrigerators in military bases, 552 bodies including those of nine women and 55 minors. .
