Hamas confirms Israeli forces almost reached Sinwar on 5 occasions

Israeli forces in Gaza were reportedly close to the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on five occasions, anonymous sources from Hamas told the Arabic-language paper Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.

At one point, IDF soldiers were reportedly just dozens of meters away from a building in Khan Younis where Sinwar and his bodyguard were hiding. The source informed the news outlet that Sinwar "was armed and prepared for a possible IDF raid on the house where he was located and to confront them if they approached. However, movements by Hamas operatives from house to house led to street battles with IDF forces, revealing Sinwar’s presence within the house."

“But Israel was unable to reach him in the Khan Younis tunnels, nor could they get to him above ground," the Hamas source said.

While on the run, Sinwar allegedly communicated with senior Hamas officials through letters delivered by couriers.

Israel Defense Forces also confirmed it was closing in on Sinwar on several occasions, but the Hamas leader managed to elude military troops.

"As the military operation in Khan Younis intensified, Sinwar insisted on staying there and parted several times from his brother Mohammed and Rafa'a Salameh, Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade Commander," the Hamas source revealed.

In July, the Israeli military eliminated Salameh and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif in an aerial strike in the Khan Younis area.

Sinwar reportedly preferred to stay in his hometown of Khan Younis. However, after Israel imposed a military siege there, the Hamas source said that Sinwar’s brother and Salameh pressured him to eventually relocate to Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town near the Egyptian border.

"However, he was safely transferred to Rafah through operations above and below ground," the source added.

Sinwar reportedly spent several months in Rafah, moving both below and above ground as the Israeli military would close in on him.

Ibrahim Mohammed Sinwar, Yahya's nephew who accompanied him, was eliminated in August in an Israeli aerial strike.

The top Hamas leader allegedly dispatched a letter to his brother’s family, informing them of Ibrahim's death. "He pointed out the burial location and mentioned that he himself had prayed over the body," the source added.

In October, Israeli forces eliminated Yahya Sinwar, who was hiding in a building in a Rafah neighborhood at the time, not far from a tunnel where Hamas terrorists murdered six Israeli hostages in August, among them U.S.-Israeli dual citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Israeli forces found DNA evidence showing that Sinwar had been in the tunnel with the hostages at one point.

The IDF believes Sinwar used the Israeli hostages as human shields, eventually ordering their execution when they were no longer physically able to move, rendering them useless to the Hamas leader.