Yahya Sinwar, a top Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, was caught on camera roaming the terrorist organization’s underground network with his wife, children and brother, the Israel Defense Forces said.
A newly released video shows the family passing through a tunnel beneath Khan Younis on October 10, with Shinwar’s brother Ibrahim leading the way with a flashlight.
As the brother continued walking through the narrow tunnel, he looked back at his family and saw Sinwar’s wife following him with a girl and two boys.
Shinwar, believed to be the ringleader of the October 7 massacre, appears at the end of the line with a flashlight in one hand and a bag in the other as the group disappears from view.
The Times of Israel reported that the Israel Defense Forces said the video was taken from surveillance cameras inside the Khan Younis tunnel, where soldiers have been tracking Sinwar since they surrounded his home in December. He said the photo was taken from.
“The hunt for Sinwar will not stop until we capture him, dead or alive,” DF spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari told reporters on Tuesday.
“What’s really important is not which video. What’s important is the information that allows us to contact high-ranking Hamas officials and hostages,” he added.
Shinwar has remained elusive since the October 7 massacre, with the terror leader believed to be using Hamas’ 300-mile tunnel system to evade advancing IDF forces. .
In November, the IDF claimed to have isolated Mr. Shinwar in an underground bunker in northern Gaza, and on December 6, Israeli forces believed they had corralled Mr. Shinwar inside his home in Khan Younis.
Last week, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfuss, commander of the IDF 98th Division, touted that his forces were actively searching for Sinwar and that it was only a matter of time before they “got him.”
Sinwar’s whereabouts became unclear after Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Thursday that Hamas had lost contact with its leader “several weeks ago.”
It is unclear whether the terrorist group was unable to contact its leader because he was on the run or because of a widespread communication blackout across Gaza.
There has been speculation that Shinwar is hiding in Rafah, which is currently Gaza’s most populous city and home to more than 1.4 million people who have nowhere else to go as the IDF plans an advance. of refugees live there.
Hamas has not commented on the video or the whereabouts of the Gaza leader.
