Last confirmed footage of Yahya Sinwar
Last confirmed footage of Yahya SinwarScreenshot

A recent New York Times report has revealed that the Israeli forces hunting Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, as well as American intelligence services, have deployed a special ground-penetrating radar in an attempt to map tunnels to better understand the tunnel network and thereby also try to locate Sinwar.

The report also noted that Sinwar was seen on a video in February, and that he was at the time using satellite phones to make him more difficult to find. The intelligence forces were nevertheless able to intercept some of the calls.

For the most part, though, Sinwar is reported to avoid electronic communications altogether, preferring instead to rely on a network of human couriers. How the network operates is still unclear. A similar courier, according to some reports, gave Israeli forces the location of senior Hamas figure Mohammed Deif, leading to his elimination.

The intelligence forces have discovered that Sinwar consumes Israeli media, primarily around 8:00 PM, the time of most major news broadcasts. According to the report, one of the reasons Israel continues to allow fuel into Gaza is the hope that Sinwar will continue using electric and digital devices, eventually giving away his location in doing so.

It was also reported that Sinwar occasionally exits the tunnels, but due to the extent tunnel network, Hamas militants know where IDF forces are located, allowing them to inform Sinwar where he can safely 'get some fresh air.'

According to the report, Sinwar has mainly been in Khan Younis throughout the months of war but also moved to Rafah through a tunnel. Sinwar has repeatedly fled from IDF forces and, on one occasion, had to escape just days before the forces arrived, leaving behind large sums of money estimated at two million dollars.

On Saturday, the British Daily Express, citing Israeli intelligence sources, reported that Sinwar has been hiding among Gazan civilians “dressed as a woman” after abandoning Gaza’s terror tunnels.

Israel has made it clear that it seeks to bring him the same fate as senior Hamas figures Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif. Both Hamas leaders were reportedly betrayed by informers within their inner circles, who were later taken to safety by Israel, and Israel has been open about employing the same strategy against Sinwar. Official IDF appeals to the Gazan public have blamed him for the humanitarian crises in Gaza and urged Gazans to contact Israeli intelligence services at a special hotline to turn him in. The notices promised a significant cash bounty and hinted at the possibility of relocating informers to the USA or EU.