Israeli Minister Proposes Burning Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar’s Body

DID Press: Miri Regev, Israel’s Minister of Transportation, announced that she proposed during a security cabinet meeting that the body of Yahya Sinwar, a political and military leader of Hamas, be burned to prevent him from becoming a “symbol of resistance.” The proposal is currently under review by Israeli security officials.

Regev, speaking on an Israeli religious radio station on Monday, (October 20), said that the aim of burning Sinwar’s body is to prevent him from becoming a symbolic figure, drawing a parallel with U.S. operations against Osama bin Laden: “Some symbols should never be revived.”

She emphasized that, given her understanding of the Middle East, she does not want to see a dignified burial ceremony for Sinwar. 

Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in an Israeli operation in Rafah last year, was a key planner of the October 7, 2023 attacks against Israel. Following the signing of a ceasefire agreement in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Hamas requested the remains of Sinwar and his brother, but Israel rejected the request.