Falcon powers – The United States is focusing on tracking down Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar in Gaza as part of a new campaign to help Israel declare “full victory” and end the war on Gaza, according to US officials who spoke to Middle East Eye.
According to current and former US officials, the United States is expanding its search efforts in the region after it was believed that Sinwar was hiding in deep tunnels under Gaza.
An anonymous US official, who requested anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media, said the Biden administration is now exploring the possibility that Sinwar has fled to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and may have even escaped from there to Lebanon or Syria.
The White House referred Middle East Eye to comments made earlier this week by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in which he said he would not comment on intelligence related to Sinwar.
Officials did not cite any specific intelligence information, but confirmed that US intelligence is facing challenges in determining Sinwar’s latest location.
According to the officials, the Biden administration is about a month behind in tracking Sinwar’s last known location, which was inside the Gaza Strip.
Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and national security advisor to four US presidents, said the ambiguity surrounding Sinwar’s latest location was “very bad.” He added, “One month means you’re not even close to getting real-time information.”
Here is the English translation of the article:
Last month, a Hamas official reported that Sinwar visited underground fighting areas and held consultations with the group’s foreign leadership.
The Hamas official, in an interview with the “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed” website, explained that Sinwar was not always residing in the tunnels as claimed by Israel, but was also carrying out his duties in the field.
“Middle East Eye” was unable to independently verify the reports regarding Sinwar’s location, but indicated that tracking Sinwar has become a new priority within the US intelligence community, where the Biden administration believes that capturing him could help pressure Israel to end the war by declaring victory.
US President Joe Biden hinted at this strategy last week when he told CNN, “I told Bibi (Netanyahu): Don’t do the same mistake we made in America. We wanted to get bin Laden. I’ll help you get Sinwar.”
The similarity between the pursuit of Sinwar and Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden indicates the immense difficulty faced by the United States and Israel in trying to find the Hamas leader in Gaza. The hunt for bin Laden took ten years, and when his location was finally determined, he was in Pakistan, about a kilometer away from the United States’ counterterrorism ally’s military academy.
According to officials, Washington wants to focus Israel’s energy on finding key Hamas leaders like Sinwar and Muhammad Deif as a way to avoid a large-scale attack on Rafah.
Arab and American officials told the website that Sinwar may rely on an indirect network of couriers and may use messaging apps to communicate with Hamas officials abroad.
As for Eidul, he commented, “If he was using a mobile phone, he would already be dead.”
An Arab official knowledgeable about Hamas explained that the group has years of experience learning how to conceal its communications during previous wars with Israel. He added, “This is a man from a different generation accustomed to communicating outside the network.”
American and Arab officials reported that if Sinwar were to flee from the Gaza Strip, it could be a blow to Hamas’ morale, and despite being described as “ready to die in Gaza,” one US official said that Hamas’ endurance on the battlefield after seven months may affect his decision-making process.
Despite the American efforts, some doubt whether the killing of Sannuar will be enough for the United States to pressure Israel into reaching a ceasefire agreement.
“The killing of Sannuar may be enough for the United States to decide the time for Israel to declare victory and move forward, but it is not clear whether that would be enough for Netanyahu’s political survival,” as Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, observed.
