The Daily Express cited Israeli intelligence sources that said the Hamas leader is now hiding in plain sight.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar has abandoned the tunnels of Rafah and is now hiding in plain sight, the Daily Express reported Saturday.
The British paper cited Israeli intelligence sources that said the now-sole leader of the Gazan terrorist organization has begun acting as a Palestinian civilian, going out and about “dressed as a woman.”
The IDF has wanted to capture Sinwar ever since he masterminded the Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7, and taking of 251 hostages.
When the Israeli forces reached Sinwar’s hometown of Khan Younis in southern Gaza in December, the search kicked up a gear.
Leaflets were also reportedly dropped over the city and environs that promised a reward of $400,000 to anyone who gave over information leading to his capture or death, with a telephone number and Telegram contact included, and confidentiality guaranteed.
It was soon believed that he had managed to escape to the Egyptian-Gazan border town of Rafah, either through tunnels or by hiding among the hundreds of thousands of civilians that the IDF allowed to leave through humanitarian corridors.
It has been also assumed that the master terrorist has been living in the vast tunnel system in the city, and has made sure to surround himself with at least some of the remaining live hostages to ensure that the IDF would not bomb his hiding place.
These could number as high as 75 of the 109 still in captivity, since the IDF has only managed to confirm the deaths of 34 people Hamas is holding.
In addition, Sinwar has reportedly added a personal safety guarantee as a new condition to the incipient hostages-for-ceasefire-and-prisoners deal.
As the IDF is methodically blowing up the Rafah tunnels, leaving him with fewer and fewer hiding places, it recently came very close to catching him.
Two weeks ago, the outgoing commander of the 98th Division, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, told Channel 12 that it had just been a matter of “minutes” at one point.
“We were very close,” he said. “We were in his underground compound…. We found a lot of money, the coffee was still warm. Weapons had been thrown aside” in the terrorists’ haste to leave before the Israelis reached them.
According to former senior Shabak official Shalom Ben Hanan, this wasn’t the first time they had just missed the arch-terrorist.
“We have actually been minutes away more than once,” the Express cited him as saying. But “he will not be sitting in underground tunnels or special underground zones for more than 24 to 36 hours at a time. He knows we can find such underground locations through advanced technology.”
“We are looking for him using technology and human intelligence, and believe he is likely to be hiding in plain sight,” Ben Hanan added.
On Sunday, The New York Times cited Israeli and American officials as saying that the allies have been cooperating very closely to try and capture the Hamas head, with one method being the use of “ground-penetrating radar” that the Americans have provided.
There is also a joint American-Israeli intelligence unit that is constantly attempting to eavesdrop on Sinwar’s communications, the report said.
The Hamas chief has mostly moved to having his messages conveyed by human couriers in order to prevent any electronic surveillance from giving away his position.
In May, Israeli officials told the New York paper that Sinwar was suspected of being back in Khan Younis and not Rafah at all.