A picture of Yahya Sinwar is shown during Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's press conference on November 4, 2023 (Hermony/Israel Defense Ministry)
‘We were close. We were in his compound. It was ‘hot.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
IDF Brigadier General Dan Goldfus told Channel 12 that he and his troops were just minutes away from catching Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after finding his hiding place within a Gaza tunnel.
The IDF’s 98th division commander says he and his soldiers were tracking Sinwar; “We were close. We were in his compound. We got to an underground compound. It was ‘hot.”
He continued, “We found a lot of money there. The coffee was still hot. Weapons strewn around.”
When the interviewer asked if they missed Sinwar by minutes, General Goldfus responded, “Minutes, really.”
The IDF has been searching for the new head of Hamas, Sinwar, who is believed to be still hiding in a Gaza tunnel.
In February, the IDF released video footage of one of the tunnels Sinwar, his family, and other Hamas leaders were using as a hiding place during the war.
Sinwar has emerged as the new head of Hamas after the other two Hamas leaders, military commander Mohammed Deif and political head Ismail Haniyeh, were both assassinated.
On August 1st, the IDF confirmed the killing of Deif in an Israeli airstrike weeks before in Khan Younis.
Israel maintains that Deif was killed while meeting with the head of Hamas’s Khan Younis forces, Rafa Salameh, although Hamas denies that Deif is dead.
Although Israel hasn’t claimed responsibility for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Mossad is believed to have recruited IRGC operatives to plant bombs in a Tehran guest house where Haniyeh died in an explosion.
Following the assassination of Haniyeh on Iranian soil, Tehran has threatened a severe retaliation against Israel.
Haniyeh, Deif, and Sinwar were the three Hamas leaders who planned the October 7th massacre.
Sinwar is believed to rely on couriers rather than electronic communication to avoid being tracked by Israel.
However, a courier is believed to have played a part in relaying information to Israel that led to the assassination of Mohammed Deif.
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