Reports: Hamas chief incommunicado, Israel checking longshot possibility he’s dead

Hamas’s Gaza-based leader Yahya Sinwar has been incommunicado for a relatively long time, and Israel is investigating the possibility — currently unlikely speculation not backed by any hard evidence — that he is dead, several Hebrew media outlets reported late Sunday.

Reports, including by the Kan public broadcaster and the Haaretz, Maariv and Walla news sites, contended that the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate is claiming Sinwar was possibly killed in IDF strikes in Gaza but there wasn’t currently sufficient non-circumstantial evidence to prove this, while the Shin Bet agency was said to believe he is alive.

Some reports quoted sources noting that the elusive Hamas chief — who has been hiding in tunnels below the Strip since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught — has previously gone temporarily off the radar and then reemerged to issue messages related to negotiations for a ceasefire-hostage deal or on other issues.

Security officials cited by multiple outlets said the possibility of Sinwar’s death was currently speculation without real basis.

Sources quoted by Haaretz said Israel has in recent months bombed tunnels in areas where Sinwar was suspected to be hiding, but there is no clear indication that he has been hit and he could be purposely keeping a low profile.

The military commented merely that “we have no information confirming or refuting the matter.”

Since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, believed to have been masterminded by Sinwar, Israel assassinated the terror group’s military wing chief Muhammad Deif and Khan Younis Brigade chief Rafa’a Salameh in an airstrike in Gaza in July and Deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in Beirut in January.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was also killed in Tehran in July, in an attack widely blamed on Israel.

Sinwar and his brother Muhammad are being relentlessly pursued, so far without demonstrable success.

Several reports have delved into the complex and secretive system of intermediaries and handwritten notes that Sinwar has allegedly been using to communicate from his hideouts.

Source » timesofisrael.com