Martyrdom or Permanent Truce: Sinwar mulling death or ‘honorable deal’

Only two to three people aware of Hamas chief’s whereabouts as he continues to evade Israeli forces, while contemplating accepting deal with Israel – or dying as a ‘martyr.’

By World Israel News Staff

Yahya Sinwar, chief of the Hamas terror organization’s forces in the Gaza Strip, remains fully apprised of the ongoing war with Israel, hostage negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt, and developments within Hamas’ leadership abroad, despite living on the run, in hiding, and in isolation, according to a report Wednesday.

The London-based Asharq Al-Awsat news outlet cited multiple sources within Hamas who said the group’s elusive leader in Gaza has maintained communications with Hamas’ leaders in exile, as well as with the terror group’s officers inside the Strip, even as his location remains a secret, with only two to three individuals aware of his whereabouts at any given moment.

Sinwar remains in regular contact with Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, who left Gaza for Qatar in 2017.

All communications between Sinwar and Hamas leaders abroad and military commanders in the Strip is conducted via the same two or three interlocuters, the sources said, claiming that those same individuals provide Sinwar with all of his personal needs.

The report also claimed that the Hamas chief is mulling accepting a deal with Israel to end the current war – or to continue the conflict and die fighting Israel.

“Sinwar is thinking of two options,” one source was quoted as saying. “Either fulfilling the conditions of the resistance in stopping the war, withdrawing the occupation forces, and completing an honorable exchange deal, or obtaining the honor of martyrdom.”

The sources called Sinwar a “stubborn negotiator,” adding that his years in Israeli prisons, prior to his release in 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit deal, provide him insight into “how Israeli leaders think.”

Sinwar “manages many aspects of the battle politically.”