Egypt reportedly offered to help Sinwar escape the Gaza Strip in exchange for letting Cairo negotiate a hostage deal with Israel – but was refused.
By World Israel News Staff
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was offered an opportunity by Egypt to escape the Gaza Strip, according to a new report, but declined the offer, insisting he remain in the coastal enclave amid the war with Israel.
On Sunday night, The Wall Street Journal reported that early on in the war after October 7th, Arab negotiators working to broker a deal between Hamas and Israel proposed that Sinwar be allowed to escape, in exchange for Cairo being empowered to negotiate on behalf of Hamas with Israel to secure a hostage deal and ceasefire.
Sinwar declined the offer, however, in part, according to the report, because of his hope that Hezbollah and Iran might be brought into a full-scale war with Israel.
“I’m not under siege, I’m on Palestinian soil,” Sinwar was quoted as telling Arab negotiators early in the war when he turned down their offer of allowing him to escape abroad.
The Hamas leader reportedly counted on intense pressure from abroad on Israel over collateral damage during the war to induce Jerusalem to agree to the terror group’s terms in talks, effectively imposing a deal on Israel which was favorable to Hamas.
The report added that Sinwar remained adamant throughout that Hamas would make no concessions in negotiations with Israel, even after he predicted that the murder of six Israeli hostages in September would provoke fierce criticism of the terror group and renewed efforts to compel Hamas to soften its position.
In addition, the report claimed that prior to October 7th, Israel had mulled assassination Sinwar, citing people involved in the plans.
However, the operations were inevitably nixed over disagreements among Israeli officials, a source said.