Sinwar evades capture through low-tech code tactics he learned in Israeli prison

Sinwar has reverted to a complex system of codes, couriers, and handwritten notes to communicate without detection.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

As Israel’s military and security forces are still engaged in the search for the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7th invasion, he is evading capture using a low-tech code strategy he learned while in Israeli prison, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Israeli intelligence can intercept phones, text messages, and other forms of electronic communications.

As a result, Sinwar has shunned electronics, which has led Israel to the trail of other Hamas leaders, and has reverted to a complex system of codes, couriers, and handwritten notes he developed during his years in Israeli prison.

Typically, a handwritten note is sent to a courier and passed through several people, some of whom are civilians, with the copies and codes varying from person to person.

The Israeli military declined to comment. Hamas declined to answer questions about how Sinwar communicates.

This system is similar to the one used when Sinwar was first imprisoned in 1998 before his release in 2011, along with 1,026 others in exchange for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Hamas’s security police, Majd, had a series of agents called sawa’ed who delivered messages in prison.

One common method involved wrapping letters in white bread, rolling it into balls, and letting it dry before throwing the bread balls containing messages to relevant inmates, who could then read them.

One mystery of Sinwar’s communication system was how he could communicate in real-time, for instance, during the now-stalled hostage negotiations.

The Wall Street Journal reported that it is unclear how Sinwar could have communicated in real-time without electronics.

Recently, Sinwar sent a message to the Houthis in Yemen, encouraging them to continue battling against Israel.

Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said Sunday that Sinwar would “soon send a message to the Palestinian people and the world.”

Sinwar sent a message to leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi following a failed missile attack on Tel Aviv, saying, “I congratulate you on your missiles reaching deep into Israel, bypassing all its defense and interception systems.”

Sinwar added, “Your action restored the impact of the fight on Tel Aviv. It sent a message to the enemy that its defenses have failed, and the support fronts are making a difference.”