According to a Bloomberg report, Israeli agencies say that Sinwar played an important role in the rocket attacks by Hamas on October 7. Israeli agencies also say that Yahya Sinwar had earlier tried to assure Israel that Hamas does not want war and is in favor of ceasefire.
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According to the report, five years ago, Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar had written a note on a document that he was aware that Egyptian mediators would hand over this document to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to former national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Sinwar wrote the note in Hebrew. Sinwar also said that a calculated risk will have to be taken for the ceasefire.
Shortly before, the Hamas chief had said in an interview to an Italian journalist: “I don’t want war anymore. I want a ceasefire.” Sinwar had said that he also wants to see Gaza Strip become like Singapore and Dubai.
Israeli officials began to believe that a feeling of complacency had set in among Hamas. In recent years the Israeli army has greatly reduced its monitoring of the Gaza border fence. Electronic sensors were relied upon and troops were shifted out of the area to protect settlements in the West Bank.
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Israeli analyst Chen Artzi Sein recently wrote in the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, “Aspiring military intelligence analysts preferred to focus on Iran and Syria because work on Palestinian issues was not considered of importance. The widespread feeling was that “Hamas has been limited. But the real challenges are still far away.”
Today the Israeli army is turning most of Gaza into rubble as part of its mission to eliminate Hamas. At least more than 12,000 people have died in the war so far. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, Sinwar is emerging as the mastermind of the attack. He is the top target of the Israeli army. It is believed that he is hiding in a tunnel in Gaza. Just like Hitler used to hide in the bunker.
As the October 7 attacks have reshaped regional, global and international politics. This has increased the risk of widespread war. It is noteworthy that Sinwar and the Israeli army have been watching each other and analyzing the ground situation for decades.
He is the founder of the Hamas security service, known as Majd, which manages internal security affairs. The Hamas Security Service investigates suspected Israeli agents and tracks Israeli intelligence and security service officers. Sinwar has been arrested thrice. After his third arrest in 1988, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
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However, he was one of 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners released by Israel in exchange for an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas for more than five years.
“Hamas and Sinwar misled Israel and made it think that war was not an option for Hamas. It was a calculated move,” Akram Atalla, a Gaza-based columnist for the West Bank newspaper Al Ayyam, said by telephone. “This is why the situation worsened.”
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Sinwar has not issued any statement since the attacks on October 7. Nor has he spoken to the press. Meanwhile, a poster has been put up on the wall of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, 75 miles from where the attack took place. Dozens of Hamas commanders are shown in it. Of these, the mark of the cross has been made on the faces of the slain commanders. Sinwar’s photo is shown first in this poster. In such a situation, it is clear that the Israeli army is searching to eliminate Sinwar.
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