Israel refuses to hand over Yahya Sinwar’s body to Hamas

DOHA, Jan 14 (SABAH): Israel will not return the dead body of Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, as part of a prisoner and hostage exchange agreement.

Saudi media Al Arabiya and Al-Hadath reported that Hamas had requested that Sinwar’s body be returned during the first phase of the agreement.

“Israel will not transfer the body of Sinwar to Hamas as part of the deal,” said a media report.

Hamas also demands the release of high-ranking soldiers serving life sentences in prison. Among them is Abdullah Barghouti, a former commander of the organization’s military wing in the West Bank, who is currently serving 67 life sentences, an unprecedented punishment in Israel.

Marwan Barghouti, former secretary general of Fatah in the West Bank, is also on the Hamas list. He was arrested on April 15, 2002, and orchestrated attacks that killed five Israelis and wounded many others. In 2004, he was sentenced to five consecutive life prison sentences and an additional 40 years in prison. Also on the Hamas list is Ahmed Saadat, the former head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and organizer of the assassination of former tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi in 2001.

Ibrahim Hamed is another person whose release Hamas demands. He was the “mastermind” behind 90 percent of suicide bombings during the Second Intifada between 2000 and 2005, planning and organizing numerous attacks against Israelis, including suicide bombings.

Finally, Abbas al-Sayyed, the perpetrator of the 2002 Passover massacre in Netanya who is sentenced to 35 terms of life imprisonment for the murder of Israelis, is also on the list. He was the head of Hamas in Tulkarem at the start of the Second Intifada.