JERUSALEM — Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assured on Monday that the leader of the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinuar goes “from hiding place to hiding place” and cannot communicate with his surroundings.
“The Hamas leaders, led by Yahya Sinuar, are on the run. Sinuar goes from hideout to hideout, unable to communicate with his surroundings,” Gallant said in a televised briefing.
The minister, who did not give details about his whereabouts, stated that the Islamist leader is no longer in command of his forces because he is concerned with “his personal survival.”
Israel accuses Sinuar of orchestrating the bloody Hamas attack on October 7 that sparked the war.
That day, Islamist fighters killed about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.
In response, Israel launched an offensive that has left at least 27,472 dead in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to the Health Ministry of Hamas, which governs the Palestinian territory.
In recent weeks, Israeli forces have focused their attacks on Khan Younis, Sinuar’s hometown in southern Gaza.
Yahya Sinuar joined Hamas when the group was founded in 1987, the year the first Intifada (the uprising against the Israeli occupation) broke out.
The ascetic fighter, known for his discretion, was not seen since October 7 after the massacre in Israel.
Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht called him the “face of the devil” and declared him a “dead man.” However, Israeli forces in Gaza have yet to locate any of Hamas’ top leaders.
The troops found “important material” in places where Sinuar recently stayed, Gallant declared, assuring that they will continue pursuing the militants in the Palestinian territory.
The army “will reach places where we have not yet fought (…) to the last stronghold of Hamas, which is Rafah,” he added.
The city of Rafah, in the far south of Gaza next to the border with Egypt, currently hosts more than half of the territory’s population, displaced by the fighting.
Source: With information from AFP
