Lhe Hamas leader Yahya Sinouar, whose death in the Gaza Strip was announced Thursday by Israel, was killed by a bullet in the head, said Friday the New York Times which questioned the chief medical examiner of the autopsy in Israel.
But several gray areas remain, according to the American daily, in particular on the precise moment when the fatal shot was fired, on the weapon which was used and on who fired.
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Details of the operation
The leader of the Palestinian armed Islamist group was first wounded in the right forearm during an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers, the director of the Israeli Institute of Forensic Medicine, Chen Kugel, told the NYT. who oversaw the autopsy and shared its findings with the newspaper.
Wounded, Mr. Sinouar was then killed by a gunshot to the head, according to Doctor Kugel.
Touched, the Hamas leader wrapped an electric cable around his arm “but it wouldn’t have been enough anyway (…) It wasn’t strong enough and his forearm was shattered”, declared the forensic pathologist at the NYT.
Israel announced Thursday the death of Yahya Sinouar, killed Wednesday in an operation by its soldiers in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
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“We didn’t know he was there”
We know, according to Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari, that his forces were operating “in recent weeks” in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, following information indicating the probable presence of senior officials of Hamas.
“Yahya Sinouar was hiding in places that we had already inspected” but “we did not know he was there,” according to Rear Admiral Hagari.
The soldier said the Hamas leader had a pistol and 40,000 shekels (around $10,000) on him.
