Two senior Hamas leaders, whose deaths were announced by Israel in 2024, were buried Friday in Gaza after their remains were discovered beneath rubble during a cease-fire, AFP journalists reported.
Several hundred people attended the funerals of Raouhi Mushtaha and Sami Oudeh during Friday prayers in the courtyard of the Omari Mosque, a historic landmark in the heart of Gaza City that was severely damaged by Israeli airstrikes.
The bodies of the two men, wrapped in Hamas’ green flags, were carried on stretchers from the mosque to their burial site by around 15 masked members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Their remains were recovered from a tunnel struck by Israel, a Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli military had announced in early October that it had "eliminated" the two leaders "about three months" earlier during a strike in Gaza.
Raouhi Mushtaha, listed in 2015 by the United States as a "global terrorist," was a member of Hamas’ political bureau in Gaza and responsible for the group’s finances. Sami Oudeh was the head of Hamas’ Internal Security Agency.
Hamas officially acknowledged their deaths in a statement Sunday, saying they had died as "martyrs."
A cease-fire agreement, effective since Jan. 19, allows for the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. It follows more than 15 months of devastating conflict, triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Humanitarian convoy reaches Rmeish, Ain Ibl, Dibil despite obstacles
