Hamas is demanding the return of the bodies of its senior leaders, Mohammed and Yahya Sinwar, as part of an agreement to end the war with Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The terrorist organization insists on retrieving the remains of the two brothers, who were killed by Israeli forces and whose bodies are in Israel’s possession, as a condition in the ongoing negotiations. The report adds that Hamas is pushing to emerge from any agreement without suffering a significant blow to its operational capabilities.

According to the Journal, some factions within Hamas’s “military” wing in Gaza may reject any deal if they deem the terms insufficient in exchange for the 48 hostages held in the Strip. In such a case, those factions might opt to continue low-level guerrilla warfare against Israeli forces operating deep inside Gaza.

Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza and one of the masterminds behind the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, was killed in Rafah in October 2024 during a firefight with Israeli troops. After the clash, soldiers recovered his body from the scene.

His brother Mohammed Sinwar, who succeeded him in a key leadership role, was killed in May 2025 in an Israeli operation that targeted a tunnel beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis. Israeli forces managed to access the tunnel and retrieve his body.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

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