The New York Post reported that Yahya Sinwar, the highest official of Hamas in Gaza and one of the masterminds of the terrorist attacks of the 7th of October, probably still is alive — hiding as a "corner rat" in the Palestinian territories in the tunnels, even though the Israeli military has designated him as enemy No. 1.
Although the Israeli Defence Forces have killed most of the top Hamas officials, Sinwar has survived by going radio silent and using Israeli hostages and innocent Palestinians as human shields to protect himself, said New York-based Soufan Group counterterrorism specialist Colin Clarke.
"He's probably still in Gaza, deep in a network of tunnels, surrounded by hostages for safety," Clarke said. “Sinwar is someone who wants his survival. This is his final goal, like a cornered rat."
Clarke, who also works at the International Counter-Terrorism Centre, said Sinwar, 61, is believed to be using a network of couriers to deliver his orders, which has repeatedly stalled ceasefire talks with Israel. The "primitive method," as Clarke put it, allows Sinwar to avoid using cell phones, as the Israeli military is experienced at tracking them.
"Israel is very high-tech in its pursuit of Hamas leaders and has been able to get away with it," Clarke said. "He has clearly become primitive."General Jack Keane, a former US Army chief of staff who now heads the Institute for Military Studies, said he believed Sinwar had likely retreated to Khan Younis in the northern Gaza Strip. He is believed to have spent much of the war hiding in Rafah in the south until Israel launched military operations in the last Hamas stronghold.
"All moves are made in the utmost secrecy because of the risk of giving away his location to the IDF," Keane said. The radio silence also means that Sinwar is unlikely to actively lead the remaining Hamas units in Rafah, as real-time military engagements would leave him exposed, like the more than a dozen battalion commanders killed by the Israeli army since October.
The Israeli military declared radio silence for Sinwar in February after the IDF invaded Khan Younis and attacked the Hamas leader's home. Clarke suggested that Sinwar is simply hoping to get out of the war in Gaza's tunnel system, despite the mounting deaths of his forces and Palestinians caught in the middle of the conflict.
Sinwar himself appeared unconcerned about the death toll in a leaked memo revealed by the Wall Street Journal, in which the Gaza leader called civilian casualties "necessary sacrifices" to continue the war. "As long as he and Hamas get away with it, he's won," Clarke said. "And the more deaths, the better for him, because he can use it to rally a reaction against Israel.
"According to reports, Sinwar was last seen fleeing through the tunnels with his family on October 10. Clarke said the only way for Israel to find him is to repeat the tried and tested tactic and get someone from the inside to go against him. But persuading the Palestinians to attack Sinwar may be more difficult than expected, given the Gaza leader's brutal history of fighting traitors.
Before becoming Hamas' top official in Gaza, the young Sinwar was known as the "Butcher of Khan Younis" for his merciless and brutal killing of suspected Israeli informants within the terror group's ranks. Sinwar, who was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp, was finally arrested in 1988 and convicted of killing two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel.
Despite his life sentence, Sinwar spent only 23 years in prison and was released in 2011 as one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. He then went on to rise through the ranks in Gaza before becoming leader of Hamas in 2017.