Hamas leader and mastermind of the October 7 atrocities Yahya Sinwar has had no contact with elements outside his organization for a relatively long time – at least three weeks – and Israel’s security establishment is investigating whether he was killed.
As we all recall, Sinwar has been hiding in the tunnels under the Gaza Strip since October 7, trying to escape the IDF pursuit. For nearly 11 months, he maintained contact with his men outside the tunnels, and indirectly also with the countries mediating the negotiations on the hostage deal with Israel, usually through messengers.
But since the IDF attack on Tel Sultan in the Gaza Strip three weeks ago, Sinwar has disappeared. That is why the security system is checking if something may have happened to him, and so far there is no positive proof other than the severed contact with him.
Sinwar was not the target of the Tel Sultan attack, which is why today there’s a major disagreement between military intelligence and the Shin Bet regarding his fate.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Sinwar might have been dead today were it not for a rudimentary communication system developed during his time in prison, which protects him from Israel’s extensive intelligence operations. Sinwar has predominantly avoided phone calls, text messages, and other forms of electronic communication that are susceptible to Israeli surveillance and have resulted in the downfall of other terrorists, most notably some 5,000 Hezbollah fighters who trusted their Mossad-supplied beepers too much. Instead, Sinwar employs a sophisticated network of couriers, coded messages, and handwritten notes, enabling him to manage Hamas’s activities while remaining concealed in underground tunnels, as reported by Arab cease-fire mediators.
It’s a lot like the American space program investing millions in developing pens that could be used in space, while the Soviet space program was using pencils.
However, lately, the connection between Sinwar and the outside world has been severed. This also makes it difficult to convey messages as part of the negotiations on the hostage deal, which also ran into difficulties given the ever-more yawning gaps between Israel’s and Hamas’s positions. An investigation is underway by the defense establishment in an attempt to find out if Sinwar was hit in one of the heavy bombardments of the air force on the tunnel arrays, or if this has been a deliberate decision on his part to disconnect, in an attempt to reduce the chance of getting hurt.
Let’s face it, our favorite psychotic mass murderer doesn’t need us anymore.
