Gunshot To Head, Finger Cut Off For DNA Analysis: All You Need To Know About Hamas Leader's Autopsy

Yahya Sinwar (Image: REUTERS file)

An pathologist said the Israeli troops cut off Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s finger for DNA analysis. He said he is "100 percent" certain about the identity of the body sent to the laboratory

An autopsy by Israel has found that Yahya Sinwar was killed by a gunshot to the head. An expert at the Israel Centre of Forensic Medicine has said the Hamas leader’s body reached them with a finger cut off.

Chen Kugel, chief pathologist, told CNN in an interview that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cut off Sinwar’s finger for DNA analysis. He said he is “100 percent” certain about the identity of the body sent to the laboratory.

“We compared the DNA sample sent to us with the profile of Sinwar that was there in our laboratory records from the time when he was a prisoner here,” Kugel told CNN. He said the IDF troops first tried to identify him with dental records but that was not “certified enough”.

In a video shared by the (IDF), a tank is seen firing at the building where Sinwar’s body was found. There are reports that Sinwar was killed in an intelligence-based ground raid in southern Gaza by the 828 Brigade of the IDF that was operating in the Tel al-Sultan area of Rafah.

In other videos shared by the Israeli military on social media, there are two soldiers standing next to a body (claimed to be Sinwar’s) with the index finger missing. The CNN said they analysed videos that showed his left hand with all five fingers intact, and then later with one finger missing.