Israeli rumours about Sinwar’s death, a trap to ‘track him’

Hamas's Gaza-based leader Yahya Sinwar has been incommunicado for a long time, but in the past few days, Israeli media has been debating his possible death –despite a lack of evidence.

Experts tell TRT World that this could be yet another Israeli tactic to lure Sinwar into a trap.

“These are Israeli allegations and rumors meant to push him to release a recorded video so they can track him and gun him down,” Yousef Alhelou, a Palestinian political analyst, tells TRT World.

Multiple Israeli media outlets, including the Israeli public broadcaster Kan, reported that Sinwar may have died in strikes targeting tunnels where he is thought to be hiding.

A key figure in Hamas, Sinwar has long been a high-value target for Israel. Since the October 7 uprising, Israel has been especially intent on killing him.

“We will strive to find him, attack him, and have them replace the head of the political bureau again,” Israel's Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said on August 7.

Sinwar succeeded Ismail Haniyeh as the chief of Hamas' political bureau, after Haniyeh was assassinated by Israel in Iran after attending the inauguration of the country's new president on July 31.

Yet, despite intensified Israeli efforts to track him, including strikes on suspected tunnel hideouts, Israeli authorities have acknowledged that there is no concrete evidence confirming Sinwar’s death.

In a Haaretz report, Israeli security officials were quoted as saying that Israel has bombed tunnels where Sinwar was thought to be hiding, yet “no clear evidence” pointed to him being harmed, as no remains of his were found.

Sinwar has managed to evade Israeli intelligence, largely due to a low-tech communications system developed during his time in prison, which protects him from Israel's sophisticated surveillance network, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal on September 16.

The report notes that a “typical message from Sinwar” is written by hand and passed along a chain, beginning with a trusted Hamas member, and moved by multiple couriers, some of whom may be civilians.

The Israeli military has neither confirmed nor refuted reports regarding the Hamas leader’s death.

Yahya Sinwar has a history of going off the radar during conflicts, only to reemerge at strategic moments, often delivering messages about ceasefire negotiations.

Some analysts note that Sinwar’s disappearance could be part of his typical strategy of maintaining a low profile to protect himself from targeted assassinations.

This isn’t the first time rumours of Sinwar’s death have emerged.

In December, similar reports suggested that he had either been killed, wounded, or fled to Sinai.

These rumours were later dismissed as psychological warfare tactics aimed at destabilizing Hamas as Israeli forces closed in on the city of Khan Yunis.

Sinwar eventually resurfaced, and reports indicated he had simply been lying low as part of his survival strategy.

Both Sinwar and his brother Muhammad remain high-priority targets for Israeli forces, but so far, efforts to locate them have been unsuccessful.