Hamas figurehead Sinwar succumbed to a fatal bullet wound to the cranium.
The notorious Hamas terrorist leader, Yahya al-Sinwar, met his end due to a lethal headshot, as revealed by the forensic investigator conducting his autopsy. "The cause of demise was a bullet to the skull," stated Chen Kugel, the top pathologist at Tel Aviv's National Forensics Center, during an interview with CNN. Sinwar's corpse was the subject of the autopsy.
"His brain exhibited substantial damage due to a bullet lodged in his head," reported Kugel. Although Sinwar endured other injuries from shrapnel and debris, his skull was the leading cause of his untimely demise, according to the expert. Initially, Sinwar had suffered an arm injury during a skirmish with Israeli troops, which he attempted to treat with an improvised tourniquet made from an electrical cable. "That wouldn't have sufficed," said Kugel. "It wasn't robust enough, as his forearm was shattered."
On Wednesday, Sinwar was reportedly eliminated in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, as per the Israeli military. In an alleged ambush, Israeli forces discovered Sinwar and two other armed men, who then sought refuge in a nearby residence. Subsequently, an Israeli tank dropped a grenade into the building, leading to Sinwar's death. Journalists later disseminated photographs of Sinwar's body, with severe head injuries and debris surrounding him. To verify the identification, a finger was removed for DNA examination, Kugel explained. "After the lab concocted a genetic profile, we matched it to the profile we maintained from Sinwar's prison time. That's how we were able to recognize him through his DNA."
IDF affirms death of Sinwar's bodyguards two days later
Known for his brutal methods against political foes, Sinwar carried the nickname, "The Butcher of Khan Yunis." Previously, he was sentenced to a life term for overseeing the murder of four suspected collaborators and two Israeli soldiers, and he served over 20 years in Israeli prisons. In 2011, Sinwar was freed as one of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners exchanged for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was being held in Gaza.
According to an Israeli military statement, Sinwar's bodyguard, Mahmud Hamdan, was also killed. On Friday, Hamdan perished during a confrontation with Israeli forces in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Sinwar had met his end two days earlier. Hamdan commanded the Hamas battalion in the Rafah neighborhood of Tal al-Sultan and served as Sinwar's personal bodyguard until his demise in the Tal al-Sultan residence. Hamdan was also responsible for safeguarding the six Israeli captives held by his men in August and found dead by Israeli troops in a tunnel underground in Rafah. Traces of Sinwar's DNA were also discovered in the tunnel. As of yet, the Islamic Hamas organization has not confirmed Hamdan's passing.
The Israeli military announced the death of Sinwar's bodyguard, Mahmud Hamdan, two days after Sinwar's alleged ambush in Rafah. The statement highlighted that Hamdan served as Sinwar's personal bodyguard and held a significant position in Hamas, commanding the battalion in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighborhood. The Commission is currently investigating Hamdan's role in safeguarding Israeli captives who were later found dead in a tunnel in Rafah, with traces of Sinwar's DNA discovered there.
