Top Hamas chief in Gaza – and suspected mastermind of Oct. 7 attacks – seen in new video fleeing in tunnel with family: ‘Hunt for Sinwar will not stop’
Hamas’ top official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was seen on camera running through the terror group’s underground network accompanied by his wife, children and brother, the IDF says.
The newly released video shows the family traveling through a tunnel beneath Khan Younis on Oct. 10, with Sinwar’s brother, Ibrahim, leading the way with a flashlight in hand.
The brother could be seen looking back at the family as he continues to walk down the narrow tunnel, with Sinwar’s wife following after him along with a little girl and two young boys.
Sinwar, the man believed to have been the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 massacre, appears at the back of the line with his own flashlight in one hand and a bag in another before the group disappears from view.
The IDF said the video was taken from a surveillance camera inside the Khan Younis tunnels, where soldiers have been pursuing Sinwar since they surrounded his home in December, The Times of Israel reports.
“The hunt for Sinwar will not stop, until we catch him, dead or alive,” DF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters Tuesday.
“One video or another is not what really matters. What is important is the intelligence that will allow us to reach senior Hamas officials and the hostages,” he added.
Sinwar has remained elusive since the Oct. 7 massacre, with the terror leader believed to be using Hamas’ 300-mile-long tunnel system to evade the advancing IDF troops.
The IDF claimed in November that it had Sinwar isolated in an underground bunker in northern Gaza, and on Dec. 6, the Israeli military believed it had him encircled inside his home in Khan Younis.
Last week, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfuss, the commander of the IDF’s 98th Division, touted that his troops were actively hunting Sinwar and that it would only be a matter of time before they “get him.”
Sinwar’s whereabouts became unclear on Thursday after Israeli Channel 12 reported that Hamas lost contact with their leader “weeks ago.”
It was unclear if the terror group could not reach their leader because he was on the run, or if it was due to the rampant communication blackouts across Gaza.
There has been speculation that Sinwar could be hiding in Rafah, currently Gaza’s most populous city housing more than 1.4 million refugees with nowhere else to run as the IDF plans to advance.
Hamas has not commented on the video or the whereabouts of its leader in Gaza.
