FALCON POWERS – According to officials cited by The New York Times, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is not hiding in Rafah, southern Gaza, undermining the Israeli justification for major military operations in the city. U.S. officials claim that Israeli intelligence agencies agree with the American assessment that Sinwar and other Hamas leaders are not hiding in Rafah but rather in the northern city of Khan Yunis.
Intelligence agencies in both countries speculate that Sinwar “never left the underground tunnel network beneath Khan Yunis,” according to unnamed U.S. officials who spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the intelligence assessments.
Previously, “Times of Israel” reported that informed officials indicated that recent intelligence assessments pointed to Sinwar’s presence in underground tunnels in the Khan Yunis area, approximately five miles north of Rafah, while a third official confirmed that Sinwar is still in Gaza.
The newspaper noted that Sinwar and his deputy, military wing leader Mohammed Deif, remain elusive despite repeated claims by Israeli officials that the Israeli army was closing in on them.
The two officials who spoke to the newspaper could not pinpoint Sinwar’s precise location at present, but they referred to intelligence assessments indicating his presence in the tunnels in Khan Yunis.
The extensive tunnel network belonging to Hamas remains deepest beneath Khan Yunis, reaching up to 15 stories deep in some places. Sinwar is also reportedly “protected by a group of Israeli hostages whom Hamas uses as human shields to deter Israeli forces from raiding or bombing his location,” according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
Israel has made eliminating Sinwar a key objective in its efforts to destroy Hamas. Officials believe that Israeli intelligence agencies possess good or better information on Sinwar’s location but have insisted that the United States is being fully informed.
In February, the Israeli military released footage claiming to show Sinwar walking through a tunnel with several family members, marking the first apparent sighting of him since he went into hiding prior to the destructive attack on October 7, which he was accused of orchestrating, leading to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
U.S. officials are attempting to persuade Israel to restrain its military operation in and around Rafah, fearing civilian casualties that may result from a large-scale assault on the city, which has become a refuge for Palestinian civilians and Hamas militants, according to the newspaper.
