Yahya Sinwar left Gaza tunnels several times, continues to elude Israel - NYT report

While Israel has been searching for Hamas leader and October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar since the start of the war in Gaza, the terror leader may have left his hiding spot multiple times in the last year, Israeli and American officials told the New York Times on Sunday. 

Hamas's October 7 attacks, planned by Sinwar, saw terrorists kill over 1200 people in southern Israel, in addition to taking over 250 captive.

Searching for Sinwar

In one case, Sinwar reportedly left his tunnel complex only days before Israeli commando units raided the structure on January 31. Escaping into Khan Yunis, Sinwar left behind only a few documents and, exhibiting the wealth of Hamas leadership, the NIS equivalent of $1 million.

Tracking down Sinwar has proven difficult for the IDF, as the terror leader has reportedly avoided electronic communication for months. Instead, a series of human couriers is said to deliver communications on his behalf - a method used by other international terror figures like Osama Bin Laden, the Times reported.

However, while Al-Qaeda terrorist Bin Laden remained in a passive state of hiding for many years, Sinwar continues to play an instrumental role in Hamas leadership - even being promoted since the assassination of his colleague Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

Qatari, Egyptian, Israeli, and American officials all told the Times that communication is now taking Sinwar significantly longer than it once did. While previously Sinwar could send messages in days, his proxies and deputies have now had to act as proxies in discussions on his behalf.

While Sinwar’s partners in terror, Mohammed Deif and Haniyeh, have since been eliminated, although Israel has only claimed responsibility for the former, not the latter, Israeli intelligence has yet to pin Sinwar down - despite the Shin Bet dedicating a special unit to hunting him.

The Times reported that the US had provided a ground-penetrating radar to aid in the search. However, one official familiar with the US-Israel intelligence-sharing arrangement told the Times that the US shared more information than Israel was willing to. The US had reportedly been eager to share information in hopes that it may have helped locate some of the American citizens who remain captive in the Gaza Strip.

The July 31 incident is not the only time that Israel closed the gap, as, during one raid early during the war, a video was discovered by the IDF showing Sinwar moving alongside his family to a new hiding spot.

Israeli intelligence told the Times that they believed Sinwar was able to keep his family with him for the first six months of the war.

In November, a hostage released in the ceasefire deal confirmed that Sinwar had directly addressed hostages not long after they were taken on October 7. Sinwar told the captives that they were safe and no harm would come to them, according to an account by a former hostage.