Hamas Gaza chief tests positive for COVID-19, spokesman says

Date:

Gaza (Reuters) – Hamas’s Gaza leader, Yehya Al-Sinwar, has tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesman for the Islamist militant group, which runs the Palestinian territory, said on Tuesday.

Sinwar, 58, is “following the advice of health authorities and taking precautionary measures”, spokesman Hazem Qassem said, without disclosing whether the Hamas chief was in quarantine.

“He is in good health and he is pursuing his duties as usual,” Qassem said.

Sinwar, a former head of Hamas’s security apparatus, became the movement’s Gaza leader in 2017, six years after he was freed in a prisoner swap with Israel after more than 20 years in jail.

Gaza has logged nearly 21,000 coronavirus cases and 111 deaths, mostly since August, amid concern of a wider outbreak in the densely populated enclave of 2 million people.

Share post:

Related

Latest

For Kuwait’s new emir, Saudi ties are seen as key

Kuwait (Reuters) - Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah was named...

Pope Francis deplores Israeli killings of civilians at Gaza church

Vatican City (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday again...

Palestinians must find new path from Israeli rule after war, top official says

Ramallah (Reuters) - Immediately after Israel's war in Gaza...

Israel says it struck Hezbollah sites after attacks from Lebanon

Jerusalem/Beirut (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday it had...