Israel claims of martyring Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, Hamas has not commented yet
GAZA, Oct 17 (SABAH): Israeli foreign minister has said that Israeli forces have martyred Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in Gaza. There has been no immediate comment from Hamas.
As per media reports, at least 28 Palestinians, including children, have been martyred and 160 wounded in Israeli attack on UNRWA school sheltering displaced people in Jabalia, in northern Gaza.
Gaza’s Government Media Office has condemned Israel’s attack on a shelter for displaced Palestinians in Jabalia.
“We condemn the Israeli occupation’s commission of this new massacre against civilians, children and women, and we call on all countries of the world to condemn these ongoing crimes against the displaced, civilians, children and women,” the office said.
It added in a statement on Telegram that it holds Israel and the US fully responsible for the attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The attack on the school increased the number of shelters and displacement centres targeted by Israel to 192 since the war began more than a year ago.
According to Al Jazeera, Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies said if the unconfirmed reports about Sinwar’s martyring end up being true, the organisation will have to go through a regrouping period because its leadership structure has been decimated.
“Looking back at some of the news reports from after the assassination of [former Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh at the end of July, … the head of the Israeli Shin Bet, the internal intelligence agency, said, ‘We will hunt down and martyr Hamas leaders wherever they are,’” Elmasry said. The Shin Bet chief listed countries and locations on how far Israel would go, Elmasry said.
He said Israel is not prioritising a peace deal, adding they want to martyr as many Hamas leaders and members as they can no matter the cost.
The Israeli army said earlier it was investigating the possibility of Sinwar being martyred in Gaza. Hamas has not yet commented.