Hamas confirmed the death of leader Yahya Sinwar in a video statement from Khalil al-Haya, a senior official who has been the extremist group’s chief negotiator in negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza and a potential hostage release deal. .
In a televised address, al-Haya said Hamas would continue to hold Israeli hostages until “the attacks on our people in Gaza stop,” Israel fully withdraws from the enclave, and Palestinian prisoners in Israel are released. He said he would not release him.
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More details have emerged: The lead pathologist who performed the autopsy on Shinwar’s body told CNN that the Hamas leader died from a gunshot wound to the head. The Israel Defense Forces had previously said nothing about its forces firing the fatal shots. Asked for comment, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told CNN there was a gunfight, which ended when Israel fired a tank shell into the building. The IDF is still working to understand all details, the spokesperson added. Additionally, a pathologist told CNN that when Israeli forces found a body similar to Shinwar’s on Wednesday, his fingers were cut off and sent for DNA testing to identify him.
US response so far: US President Joe Biden said after Sinwar’s death that ending the Middle East conflict remains difficult. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says there is a “good chance” the U.S. will play a role in stabilization efforts in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war with Israel, calling for a definition of the strip alongside allies in the region. He added that there is.
Blockade of medical institutions: The World Health Organization has accused Israel of blocking several medical institutions from entering Gaza, and entire health institutions have been denied access to the enclave during more than a year of war. This is the first time. The WHO said the experts who were refused entry were “already overburdened” performing medical procedures, including surgeries, in strained facilities such as the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza, the European Hospital and Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. He was supposed to be supporting the staff who are in debt. COGAT, the Israeli agency that coordinates the inspection and delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, denied the accusations.
Gaza’s medical system is strained: Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, is overwhelmed by the influx of patients, staff are exhausted, and medicine and food are in short supply. The director said that he is doing so. “This is a devastating situation in every sense of the word,” Dr. Hassam Abu Safiyah told CNN in a video message. “From yesterday until this moment, no one has slept,” he added, adding that the hospital is dealing with a number of premature babies due to the stress on pregnant women from heavy bombing in northern Gaza.
Israel continues operations in Lebanon: Israel has issued evacuation notices to residents of 23 villages in southern Lebanon, urging them to move north. Some of the villages mentioned in Friday’s notification had been named in an earlier warning. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s Middle East director said on Tuesday that about a fifth of Lebanon’s population has left their homeland and about a quarter of the country is under evacuation orders from the Israeli military. Israel has also assembled “an additional reserve brigade for operational missions” against Hezbollah in northern Israel, the IDF said.
