A press report stated today, Friday, that the body of the head of the Hamas movement, Yahya Sinwar, who was martyred during his confrontation with Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip, according to what was announced yesterday, Thursday, was transferred to a "secret" location in Israel.

This came according to what was reported by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on its website (“Ynet”).

The report said, "At the end of the autopsy of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, which was conducted at night (Thursday-Friday night) at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv (Abu Kabir), the body was transferred to be kept in a secret location."

The report explained that "it is not clear at this stage what will be done with his body, and whether it will be used as a card in future negotiations that will also include the return of the 101 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip."

According to Ynet, "The autopsy showed that Sinwar was shot in the head, and his body showed signs of gunshot wounds, including those from shells."

The Israeli army confirmed, last Thursday evening, that it had killed Sinwar in the Tel al-Sultan area in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, while reports indicated that this was done "completely by accident" and not as part of a special Israeli operation, which the Israeli army later acknowledged.

In a joint statement also issued by the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet), the Israeli military confirmed that “at the end of a manhunt that lasted for about a year, yesterday, Wednesday (October 16, 2024), IDF forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the southern Gaza Strip.” Reports indicated that he was assassinated on Wednesday afternoon, and his body was found on Thursday.

The Israeli army radio said that "a tank fired at a building" where Sinwar was located, adding that "according to estimates and results found at the scene, Sinwar was injured as a result of the tank firing at the building"; it also indicated that "infantry forces raided the building and conducted searches inside it, where the location of the suspicious body was identified during the scanning operations."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, while announcing the assassination of the head of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, that his assassination represents the beginning of the "day after" after Hamas, which he stressed will not control the Strip after the war, considering it an "important moment."

Before Netanyahu spoke about the hostages yesterday, the families of the Israeli prisoners in Gaza demanded an "immediate deal" to exchange prisoners, after the killing of Sinwar.

A statement issued by the "Hostages' Families Headquarters" urged "the state's leadership to transform the military achievement into a political one, and to seek to reach an immediate agreement for their release," stressing the need to "release all 101 kidnapped people, some of them alive, for rehabilitation, and the dead for a proper burial."

While the statement considered the assassination of Sinwar "an important milestone on the road to true victory, which will not be achieved except with the return of the 101 kidnapped soldiers," it stressed that "the Israeli government has not been able, for more than a year, to benefit from the unprecedented security achievements in the fighting in Gaza, in favor of releasing the kidnapped soldiers."