According to US intelligence agencies, Yahya Sinouar, head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is not in Rafah

“Dead Man” This is how Israeli leaders described Yahya Sinouar, the leader of Hamas and Israel’s public enemy number 1, after the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. The Israeli army’s goal was to kill him, but it was forced to negotiate with him indirectly to try to free the hostages. Ceasefire talks that collapsed last week in Cairo.

To Israeli and Western officials, Yahya Sinuar appeared during these negotiations as both a fierce adversary and a political figure capable of analyzing Israeli society. According to American intelligence agencies, cited by the New York Times, he is located in an extensive network of tunnels under Khan Younes, and is not hiding under Rafah, as the Israeli army believes. Information that could refute the Israeli justification for the military operation in Rafah.

Ignoring international opposition and fears of civilian massacres, Israel last week launched an operation in the southern Gaza Strip city and then expanded the perimeter of its offensive aimed at destroying the “last Hamas battalions”, now targeting the Rafah urban areas where 1 .4 million people – residents and displaced by the war.

Yahya Sinouar is no ordinary leader

American officials and Hamas members spoke with The newspaper “New York Times. In their columns, the American media, citing information from intelligence agencies, claim that Yahya Sinouar will not have the last word in the decisions of the group, but “no decision can be made without consultation with Yahya Sinouar,” Salah ad-Din al-Awaude said. Hamas member and political analyst. “He is not an ordinary leader, he is a powerful personality,” he said.

Some say he played a more prominent role in the war mainly because of his position: as Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, he has more say but not the final say, according to Musa Abu Marzouq, a senior Hamas official based in Gaza. Qatar. “Yahya Sinouar’s opinion is very important because he is on the ground and leading the movement internally,” the latter said. But this is Ismael Hania [le plus haut responsable civil du mouvement NDLR] who has the “final word” on key decisions, said Musa Abu Marzouk.

However, waiting for Yahya Sinouar’s approval often slowed negotiations, according to American officials. According to them, sometimes it takes a day to send a message and a day to receive a response. They also believe that the latter approves of military operations carried out by Hamas. Even if negotiators eventually reach a ceasefire, Israel will likely continue it for the rest of its life, one official said.

Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials say the Hamas leader’s strategy is to continue the war as long as necessary to destroy Israel’s international reputation and damage its relationship with its main ally, the United States.

Hostages as “human shields”

Another 128 Israeli hostages are currently in the hands of Hamas. American and Israeli officials said Yahya Sinouar would hide next to the hostages, using them as human shields. An Israeli hostage released during a truce in November said she met him during her captivity.

In February, the Israeli military released video that soldiers allegedly took from a surveillance camera found in a Hamas tunnel under the Gaza Strip. The video shows a man running into the tunnel, accompanied by a woman and children. The army said the man was Yahya Sinouar, who fled with his family. The information cannot be verified: the man’s face was turned away from the camera.