Israeli and American authorities informed the New York Times on Sunday that although Israel has been looking for Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of October 7 and leader of Hamas, since the beginning of the Gaza conflict, the terror commander may have left his hiding place more than once in the past year.
During the October 7 attacks, which were orchestrated by Sinwar, terrorists in southern Israel killed more than 1200 people and captured more than 250 others.
Spotted: Yahya Sinwar running away and hiding in his underground terrorist tunnel network as Gazan civilians suffer above ground under the rule of Hamas terrorism.
There is no tunnel deep enough for him to hide in. pic.twitter.com/KLjisBFq1f
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 13, 2024
Looking for Yahya Sinwar
In one instance, Sinwar apparently departed his underground network just a few days before the January 31 attack by Israeli commando teams. Only a few documents and the NIS equal of $1 million, which demonstrated the affluence of Hamas leadership, were left behind by Sinwar when he fled into Khan Yunis.
The IDF has had difficulty finding Sinwar since the terror leader has allegedly avoided using internet communication for months. As per the claim by the Times, he is allegedly using a group of human messengers to convey messages on his behalf, a technique also employed by other global terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden.
But although Al-Qaeda terrorist Bin Laden lived a long and quiet life in hiding, Sinwar has been a key figure in Hamas leadership and has even been given more authority after his comrade Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran.
The Manhunt for Sinwar: A High-Stakes Mission
Officials from Qatar, Egypt, Israel, the United States, and Israel told the Times that communication with Sinwar is taking a lot longer than it used to. Previously, Sinwar could convey messages within days, but he is now forced to use proxies and deputies to represent him in talks.
Although Israel has only taken responsibility for the elimination of Sinwar’s terror accomplices, Mohammed Deif and Haniyeh, not the latter, Israeli intelligence has not yet been able to bring Sinwar to justice, even though the Shin Bet set up a special team to hunt him down.
Sinwar’s Elusiveness: Challenges Facing Israeli Intelligence
The US reportedly sent a ground-penetrating radar to help with the hunt, according to The Times. The Times was informed by an official acquainted with the US-Israel intelligence-sharing agreement that the US provided more information than Israel was prepared to provide. According to reports, the US had been keen to exchange intelligence in the hopes that it may have assisted in locating some
Israel has closed the gap not only in the July 31 event but also during an early-war operation when the IDF found footage of Sinwar and his family transferring to a new hiding place. According to what Israeli intelligence informed the Times, Sinwar managed to hold onto his family during the first half of the war.
A hostage freed as part of the ceasefire agreement in November attested to Sinwar’s direct communication with the captives shortly after their capture on October 7. According to a former hostage’s statement, Sinwar assured the captives that they would not be harmed.
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