Middle East conflict: Death in the rubble of Gaza: How the Hamas boss was hunted

After the killing of the previous Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, more and more details about Jihia al-Sinwar’s final hours are coming to light. According to the forensic scientist responsible for the autopsy, the mastermind of the massacre in Israel on October 7th last year was killed by a shot in the head. “The cause of death is a gunshot wound to the head,” senior pathologist at the National Center for Forensics in Tel Aviv, Chen Kugel, told US television channel CNN.

Shortly before the fatal shot at the most wanted terrorist in the Middle East, Israeli soldiers observed three men moving from building to building in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to the newspaper “The New York Times”, citing security circles reported in Israel and the USA. After a firefight in which an Israeli soldier was seriously wounded, one of the men fled into an adjacent house.

Sniper is said to have killed Sinwar

The Israeli military then piloted a drone into the building and discovered a hooded man covered in dust on a sofa who threw a stick at the remote-controlled aircraft. It only later turned out that it was Sinwar. A sniper then shot him in the head and an Israeli tank fired on the building, the New York Times reported.

For fear of booby traps, the troops did not advance into the house until after sunrise the following day. There they eventually found a body that closely resembled Sinwar. “He had several injuries: a wound from a rocket on the right forearm, injuries from fallen masonry on his left leg and a lot of shrapnel in the chest. They caused serious injuries, but the cause of death is the gunshot wound to the head,” said forensic expert Kugel.

Identity confirmed via DNA test

The pathologist explained that one of the dead man’s fingers was cut off in order to determine his identity using a DNA test. “After the lab created a genetic profile, we compared it to the profile we had of Sinwar from his time as a prisoner. This is how we were finally able to identify him based on his DNA.”

The Islamist, known as the “Butcher of Khan Yunis” because of his brutality in dealing with political opponents, was once sentenced to a long prison sentence for the murder of four suspected collaborators and two Israeli soldiers and served over 20 years in Israeli prison. In 2011, he was one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit held in Gaza.

Sinwar’s body used as “bargaining bargaining chip” for hostage deal

According to media reports, Sinwar’s body is in a secret location in Israel. His remains could serve as a “bargaining bargaining chip” in talks about the release of hostages held by Hamas, CNN reported, citing Israeli diplomatic sources. “If Hamas wants to trade his body for Israelis, dead or alive, then so be it,” a person familiar with the matter was quoted as saying. Without such a deal, the body should not be sent to Gaza. There is concern in Israel that Sinwar’s grave could become a place of pilgrimage for his followers in the coastal area sealed off by Israel and destroyed in the war.

Sinwar’s bodyguard also killed

Shortly after Sinwar, Israeli soldiers also killed the Hamas leader’s bodyguard, Mahmoud Hamdan, according to the military. The commander of the Hamas battalion in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan district died just 200 meters from where Sinwar lost his life. Hamdan was also responsible for guarding the six Israeli hostages murdered by his men in August.

The hunt for the Hamas leader

Immediately after the bloody attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which Islamist terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and abducted another 250 to the Gaza Strip, Israel’s armed forces and secret services opened the hunt for chief planner Sinwar. But he didn’t make it easy for them. According to security experts, he spent a long time in the extensive tunnel system under the Gaza Strip, surrounded by hostages. Accordingly, he did without cell phones and computers and only communicated with his fighters via messengers so as not to reveal his whereabouts.

After Israeli forces recovered the bodies of the six dead hostages from a tunnel at the end of August, they were able to detect Sinwar’s urine in the underground complex using DNA testing, according to the New York Times report. After that, the noose tightened more and more. The secret services repeatedly observed masked people in the Tal al-Sultan district who appeared to be accompanied by bodyguards – an indication that they were probably prominent Hamas figures.

But in the end there was also a bit of luck. According to information from the New York Times, the military patrol that Sinwar ultimately set up was actually only in the area to collect further clues. Then she managed one of the most important blows against Hamas since the beginning of the Gaza war.