Living off the grid surrounded by Israeli hostages – How Hamas chief survived Israel’s invasion

Counter-terror expert sheds light on how Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief in Gaza and mastermind of the October 7th invasion, has managed to survive the ongoing war with Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Since the October 7th invasion of southwest Israel and the outbreak of the current war in Gaza, Israeli forces have systematically targeted and killed senior Hamas terrorists both in the Gaza Strip and abroad, including Marwan Issa, Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s top deputy and the second in command of Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and Ibrahim Biari, commander of Hamas’ elite Nukhba Force and one of a small number of senior Hamas officials who helped Sinwar plan the October 7th attacks.

Yet despite Israel’s extensive efforts, including operations in his hometown of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, Sinwar has thus far managed to elude capture or assassination.

Colin Clarke, a senior counter-terror expert and a member of the Soufan Group in New York, explained in an interview with The New York Post how the top Hamas terrorist in Gaza has likely managed to remain at large, even after more than eight months of war with Israel.

Sinwar, Clarke said, has likely gone off the grid, avoiding electronic devices which could be used by Israeli intelligence to track him. Instead, Sinwar is relying on couriers – a tactic he has used in the past to facilitate his communications with senior Hamas leaders in exile in Qatar.

“Israel has a very high-tech network scanning for Hamas leaders, and he’s managed to avoid that,” Clarke said. “He’s clearly gone primitive.”

Clarke dismissed rumors Sinwar has left the Gaza Strip, for the Egyptian-ruled Sinai Peninsula or elsewhere, arguing that the Hamas commander is still underground somewhere in the coastal enclave.

In addition to eschewing electronic devices, Clarke continued, Sinwar is almost certainly imprisoning a number of Israeli hostages within him, using them as human shields.

“He’s likely still in Gaza, deep within the tunnel network and surrounded by hostages to secure his safety. Sinwar is someone who is out for his own survival.”

“It’s his ultimate goal, like a cornered rat.”