“HIDEOUT TO HIDEOUT”
The video was the “result of our hunt”, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing at the time.
“The hunt will not stop until he is captured, dead or alive. We are determined to capture him.”
It was not the video that was important, Hagari said, but the intelligence the military could glean from it that would help find other top militants.
Days later, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant claimed that Sinwar was “on the run” and moving from “hideout to hideout”.
Earlier this month, the military announced that in July it had killed Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s armed wing and, along with Sinwar, one of the alleged planners of the Oct 7 attack.
In recent days, there have been rumours that Sinwar has been meeting with hostages still being held in Gaza.
When a week-long ceasefire was concluded at the end of November, and dozens of hostages were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, one of the released captives claimed to have seen Sinwar.
But after questioning Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, the security services concluded that it was not Sinwar she had seen, her son told Israeli television Channel 13.
“Using complex means, he communicates with all the leadership of the movement both inside (Gaza) and outside, and also with the (Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades,” a senior Hamas leader told AFP, referring to the group’s armed wing.
“He follows complex security procedures for his personal protection, but this does not prevent him from continuing his duties and making decisions,” the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the issue.
Sinwar will speak soon about his appointment as Hamas chief, he added.
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