Hamas leader narrowly evades capture as Israeli forces hunt him in Gaza tunnels
Israeli troops have come close to capturing Hamas’s Gaza-based leader in the enclave’s underground tunnel network, according to reports.
Yahya Sinwar, identified by Israel as the mastermind of the Oct 7 atrocities, narrowly evaded capture by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet, the security agency, “more than once” in recent weeks, Channel 12 reported, citing unnamed security officials.
The forces have zeroed in on areas of Gaza’s underground tunnel network where the Hamas leader is expected to be hiding, with the southern city of Khan Younis now the focus of the search.
Intelligence reports earlier in the war stated that Sinwar was moving from place to place and was not remaining in any one location for an extended period of time. Earlier this month, IDF troops surrounded his house in Khan Younis, where they believed he was hiding underground.
The Israeli military has reportedly faced questions as to why it has not yet eliminated Sinwar. Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, the IDF chief of staff, is understood to have urged caution, reminding the cabinet that it took the US 10 years to locate and kill Osama bin Laden.
Hostage release proposal
Heavy fighting was reported in the south and east of Khan Younis on Wednesday morning, and casualties were reported in an area west of it. In the north of Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health authorities said at least 46 people were killed and 110 injured.
Meanwhile, Israel is pursuing efforts to secure the release of hostages captured by Hamas and kidnapped into Gaza during the Oct 7 attack.
The day after the Mossad chief met with the CIA director and Qatar’s prime minister in Warsaw, the Israeli news website Walla quoted unnamed Israeli officials as saying they offered Hamas a one-week ceasefire in exchange for 40 hostages.
Hamas is believed to want a much longer pause as its own resources as well as the overall humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip are reaching breaking point.
The UN’s children’s agency warned on Wednesday that Gaza’s water and sanitation services were at the point of collapse
“Access to sufficient amounts of clean water is a matter of life and death, and children in Gaza have barely a drop to drink,” Catherine Russell, the executive director of Unicef, said, warning of a large-scale outbreak of waterborne diseases.
Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday they were only interested in a lasting truce, otherwise Israel would get the hostages back and “start a new round of mass killings against our people”.
Earlier in the day, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader, who lives in Doha, Qatar, arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials who mediated the previous ceasefire with Israel.
Mr Haniyeh rarely engages in public diplomacy and last visited Egypt in early November, before the announcement of the only truce in the war so far.
Hamas ‘rejects temporary pause’
A source briefed on the negotiations said envoys were discussing which of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza could be freed, and what prisoners Israel might release in return.
Israel believes 129 hostages from the Oct 7 attack are still in Gaza, although 21 of them are dead. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, is facing rising domestic political pressure to secure the return of those in captivity.
It is thought Israel is insisting on the release of all remaining women and infirm men, while Palestinians convicted of serious offences could be on the list of prisoners to be freed in exchange.
But Palestinian officials indicated Hamas was likely to reject offers of a temporary pause and demand a permanent halt to fighting. “Hamas’s stance remains that they don’t have a desire for humanitarian pauses. Hamas wants a complete end to the Israeli war on Gaza,” an unnamed Palestinian official told Reuters.
“Haniyeh and Hamas always appreciate the Egyptian effort. He is in Cairo today to listen to whether Israel has made new proposals or whether Cairo has some too. It is early to speak of expectations.”
A senior Israeli official said the war could only end with the elimination of Hamas and the release of all hostages being held by the terror group and its affiliates.
