Intelligence sources speaking with the Jewish Chronicle said that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has plans to smuggle himself and remaining senior Hamas leaders out of Gaza to Iran via Sinai - with hostages as a shield.
The sources said that they learned of these plans from interrogating a senior Hamas terrorist, as well as documents seized the same day the six hostages were murdered.
According to the sources, Sinwar sees the Philadelphi corridor as the only way to survive, his terrorist organization having been broken, and is thus insistent on the IDF leaving it, as otherwise he cannot realize his escape plan.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has insisted on an IDF presence in Philadelphi as non-negotiable, even in the face of vehement opposition from Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, and even a substantial part of the Israeli public. While they claim Israel can retake the corridor at any time, he insists this is not true.