The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released footage Tuesday of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, fleeing through underground tunnels, as well as footage of one of his hiding places, where he had abandoned millions of dollars in cash.
A soldier narrating the video made sure to note the contrast between Sinwar’s riches and the poverty of Gazans above ground.
Sinwar’s life was saved by Israeli doctors who treated his cancer when he was serving a prison sentence in Israel.
GAZA, PALESTINE – 2023/04/14: Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, waves his hand to the crowd during the celebration of International Quds Day in Gaza City. The chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar delivered a historic address to the Palestinian people of Gaza, telling them to stick up to the fighting against Israel in a speech that reflected his country’s support for the territory’s ruling Hamas militant group. Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day is a commemoration day in support of the Palestinian people held annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan by an initiative started by the late founder of the Islamic Republic in Iran. (Photo by Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
He was released in a deal to free hostage Gilad Shalit in 2011, and became one of the most powerful terrorists in Gaza, masterminding the October 7 attack on Israel.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in an evening briefing:
In recent days, through the activity of special units, we uncovered a tunnel, dozens of meters underground, where we also found a video from a Hamas security camera installed in the tunnel. The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the chief murderer, Yahya Sinwar, was seen fleeing with his children and one of his wives through the tunnel network, led by his brother, Ibrahim Sinwar. This footage, taken on October 10th at the beginning of the war, shows him escaping with his family underground through a tunnel to one of the pre-built safe complexes. This video of Sinwar is a result of the manhunt we are conducting for him. The hunt will not stop until we capture him, dead or alive.
We are determined to capture him, and we will capture him. During further searches, we reached a compound where he was staying underground with other senior operatives, hiding while the war is happening above them. The senior Hamas operatives are staying in the compound in good conditions. They have food and bathrooms, alongside safes with personal fortunes amounting to millions of NIS and dollars. We are close to dismantling the military framework of Hamas in Khan Yunis. The 98th Division is searching and eliminating terrorists along with the special units and the infantry and armor brigades.
Sinwar has not been heard from in more than two weeks, leading to speculation about his fate, as the IDF closes in on Hamas leaders in the network of tunnels underneath Khan Yunis and Rafah, the two last strongholds of Hamas in Southern Gaza.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
