Ex-Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar's widow remarries in Turkey after escaping Gaza with fake passport
According to a news website Ynet.com, which quoted sources, the families of top Hamas officials were smuggled out of the Gaza Strip in the early days of the war, using forged documents, logistical support, and assistance from foreign contacts.
Though these accounts remain unverified by official sources, the reports have sparked anger among Gazans living under siege conditions, the news website said.
According to the report, Israeli military in January this year had released a video showing Samar Abu Zamer, widow of Hamas military commander Yahya Sinwar, entering a Hamas tunnel with her children. While initial speculation suggested that she had gone underground, local sources later told Israeli news outlet Ynet that Zamer had left Gaza entirely and was living in Turkey.
'She's no longer here – she crossed through the Rafah border using a fake passport,' one source said, noting the operation involved 'high-level coordination, logistical support, and large sums of money that regular Gazans don't have.'
Zamer remarried in Turkey a few months after Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces, sources said. The match was reportedly arranged by senior Hamas political bureau member Fathi Hammad, who has been previously linked to efforts aiding the escape of Hamas figures and their families. Abu Zamer faced criticism last year when footage showed her carrying an expensive Hermès Birkin handbag while hiding in a tunnel.
Reportedly Najwa Sinwar, wife of Yayha Sinwar's brother, Mohammad Sinwar, also left Gaza with her children before her husband's death, possibly also for Turkey. While there is no public record of her whereabouts in recent months, Israeli security officials confirmed that both women exited Gaza via Rafah crossing before their husbands were killed.
The news website also said that according to regional observers, Hamas has long maintained a covert smuggling network to evacuate its leaders' families. The system reportedly involves forged passports, fake medical records, and coordination with embassies of allied nations.
Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations each day for 10 hours in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors in the enclave, where images of hungry Palestinians have alarmed the world, Reuters reported.
Military activity will stop from 10 am to 8 pm (0700-1700 GMT) until further notice in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City.
The military also announced designated secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine will also be in place between 6 am and 11 pm starting from Sunday.
Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. A total of 127 people have died due to malnutrition, including 85 children, since the start of the war, the ministry said.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said it was sending on Sunday more than 100 trucks carrying over 1,200 metric tons of food aid to southern Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Hours earlier, Israel began aid airdrops in what it said was an effort to ease the humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Stunts turn fatal: Pilot, son die in plane crash near Puerto Soller, Spain; investigation underway
Representative image A pilot and his 13-year-old son were found dead after their two-seater biplane crashed into the sea off the coast of Mallorca, Spanish police confirmed Sunday. The Team Rocket F-4 Raider aircraft went down in the Puerto Soller area on Saturday night. According to Spanish media as cited by Reuters, the plane appeared to be performing aerial stunts before it plunged into the water around 8.20 pm. Emergency services launched an immediate search, but the victims could not be located during the initial operation. The search resumed at first light on Sunday, with specialist divers deployed to the area. "At approximately 1 pm.(1100 GMT) specialist divers from the Civil Guard recovered the lifeless bodies of the pilot and his son who accompanied him in a sea which reaches a depth of 30 metres and they have been transferred to the Puerto of Soller," the Spanish Civil Guard said in a statement. Authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.
NDTV
6 hours ago
- NDTV
Who Is Evyatar David? Israeli Hostage Seen Digging His Grave In Gaza
New Delhi: An Israeli hostage was seen digging his grave in a new video released by Hamas. This is the second such clip of 24-year-old Evyatar David circulated within 48 hours. Visibly skeletal and struggling to speak, David is seen in an underground tunnel using a shovel, narrating his ordeal in faint Hebrew. "What I'm doing now is digging my own grave... Every day my body becomes weaker. I'm walking directly to my grave. There is the grave where I am going to be buried. Time is running out to be released and sleep in my bed with my family." Who Is Evyatar David? Evyatar David is a 24-year-old Israeli citizen who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023. He was abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel during the deadly attack that day. David has been held in captivity in Gaza for nearly two years. He is among the 49 hostages who, according to Israeli authorities, are still being held by Hamas. In a public statement, the family described him as a "living skeleton, buried alive" in the tunnels of Gaza. War In Gaza Evyatar David is among 49 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,219 people in Israel. Since then, Israel's ongoing war on the besieged enclave has killed more than 60,000 people, according to local health officials. Aid access has been largely cut off in Gaza since March 2, leading to children dying from hunger, starvation, and malnutrition, as per UN agencies. Israeli militia has also killed many at food and aid distribution sites. Earlier, Palestinian Islamic Jihad released footage of another hostage, 21-year-old Rom Braslavski, appearing pale and frail as he begged for help. His family says he is starving, denied medicine, and "has been broken."
Indian Express
6 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Digging my own grave': Hamas releases video of ‘living skeleton' Israeli hostage
The family of Evyatar David, a 24-year-old Israeli hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, saw him for the first time in months on Friday evening. In a video released by Hamas, David appeared skeletal, hollow-eyed, and barely able to speak. He was shown digging what he described as his own grave in an underground tunnel. 'I haven't eaten for days… I barely got drinking water,' he says in faint Hebrew, his voice faltering. 'What I'm doing now is digging my own grave… Every day my body becomes weaker. I'm walking directly to my grave.' The video has sent waves of fear through Israeli society, especially among the families of the 49 hostages still believed to be in Gaza nearly two years after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead. David was among the 251 hostages taken that day, abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His family accused Hamas of using starvation as a weapon of war and propaganda. 'We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas's tunnels in Gaza — a living skeleton, buried alive,' the family said in a statement on Saturday. 'They are on the absolute brink of death,' his brother Ilay added at a Tel Aviv rally, calling on the international community to act. 'Evyatar is my little brother, a kind, gentle soul whose only 'crime' was celebrating at a music peace festival.' The rally, one of the largest in recent weeks, drew thousands of Israelis demanding the release of the remaining hostages. 'Our brothers are turning into skin and bones at this very moment,' said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is also believed to be held in Gaza. Saturday's footage of David was Hamas's second video in two days. It followed the release of another hostage video by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which showed Israeli captive Rom Braslavski. David had last been seen in March, watching silently as other hostages were freed during a temporary ceasefire. Hamas has faced increasing scrutiny and criticism for the release of these videos. Human rights experts speculate that they could amount to war crimes, while United Nations investigators have previously said that hostage taking, mistreatment and psychological torture by Hamas violate international law. Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas remain precarious. Last month, negotiations held in Doha collapsed without a breakthrough with Israel demanding the release of all hostages before considering a halt to their offences. Hamas in turn has refused to disarm without the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. Until then, leadership has reenforced its commitment to armed resistance. US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with hostage families in Tel Aviv on Saturday and said the Trump team believes they can secure a deal to bring all hostages home. 'President Trump now believes that everybody ought to come home at once — no piecemeal deals. That doesn't work,' Witkoff said, according to Axios. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken with the families of both David and Braslavski on Saturday. Despite increasing international criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, the government has remained firm on its conditions for a ceasefire. Meanwhile, aid into Gaza continues to trickle in slowly. UN-backed food security experts say the 'worst-case scenario of famine' is now unfolding. Hamas has referenced this crisis in its hostage videos, attempting to draw parallels between starving Palestinians and starving hostages. David's family called for the humanitarian aid now entering Gaza through airdrops and UN convoys to also be directed toward the captives. 'The thought of his pain, his hunger, his fear in those dark tunnels — it haunts my every waking moment,' Ilay said.
