Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar's autopsy showed he was killed by a gunshot to head

The chief pathologist who autopsied Sinwar’s body told CNN that the Hamas leader was killed by a gunshot wound to the head.

 Asked for comment, an IDF spokesperson told CNN that there was an exchange of gunfire and that the combat ended with Israel firing a tank shell at the building.

The pathologist further told the American news channel that when Israeli forces found a body resembling Sinwar’s on Wednesday, his finger was cut off and sent for DNA testing in order to identify him.

Hamas on Friday confirmed that its leader Yahya Sinwar, who was the architect of the group's cross-border raids on October 7, 2023, which became the deadliest day in Israel's history, was killed in combat action, media reports said.

The news was confirmed by Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy Gaza Hamas chief and the group's chief negotiator.

Soon after confirming the death, Hamas  Friday said it won't release hostages until Israel ends its war on Gaza, withdraws from the territory and frees jailed Palestinians.

The hostages "will not return... unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops, there is a complete withdrawal from it, and our heroic prisoners are released from the occupation's prisons," Khalil al-Haya said in a video statement, as quoted by AFP reported.

Israel Thursday claimed that its military executed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar during an operation in Gaza.

Yahya Sinwar, the chief architect of the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, has been at the top of Israel's wanted list ever since. But he had managed to elude detection by possibly hiding in the warren of tunnels that Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.

Previously leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, he was named as its overall leader following the assassination of former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in August.

Last month, Israel also killed Hasan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, in Beirut besides executing many of the group's top leadership.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages into Gaza. In a retaliatory action, Israel has killed more than 42,000 people, turned much of Gaza into rubble, and displaced most of its population.