The US has poured “vast resources” into helping Israel locate Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, even employing the CIA to set up a task force dedicated to his capture, The New York Times reported on Sunday in a piece detailing the efforts to track down the architect of the October 7 massacres.
Citing interviews with more than two dozen officials in Israel and the US, the report revealed that the US, which considers Hamas a terrorist organisation, established channels with Israel to share information on the whereabouts of Sinwar and other leaders of Hamas in the immediate aftermath of October 7. The US has even deployed “ground-penetrating” radar to help map the hundreds of miles of underground tunnels in Gaza, an added support which a senior Israeli official called “priceless.”
But the report noted that an anonymous source familiar with the intelligence-sharing arrangement described it as being often “very lopsided,” with the Americans sharing more information than the Israelis give in return.
The source added that at times, “Americans provide information about Hamas leaders in the hopes that the Israelis will direct some of their own intelligence resources toward finding the American hostages.”
Following October 7, the CIA established a task force with the mission of locating Sinwar, who is believed to stay in touch with Hamas operatives through a network of couriers in a strategy used by other Hamas leaders in the past – and by other terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden.
However, Sinwar’s position is unique in that he continues to actively manage the Gazan terrorist organisation’s military campaign. According to the NYT report, diplomats involved in ceasefire negotiations in Qatar say that Hamas representatives insist they need Sinwar’s input before making any major decisions in the talks.
Israeli military intelligence and Shin Bet also established a cell inside Shin Bet headquarters with the explicit goal of finding Sinwar, who the report said is “the only person who can ensure that whatever is decided in Doha is implemented in Gaza.”
An Israeli soldier secures a tunnel near the border with Israel in northern Gaza Strip. The IDF alleges the project of building the tunnel was led by Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and was used as part of the October 7 attack, funnelling fighters near the Erez crossing and Israeli border communities.(Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Capturing Sinwar, who has been Hamas’ topmost political leader since the Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in early August, would signify a military victory for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to American officials, and would potentially make him more willing to end the fighting in Gaza.
But Israeli, Qatari, Egyptian and American officials said communications with the 61-year-old Sinwar have become increasingly difficult. Before the war, Sinwar was a highly visible figure in Gaza, giving interviews and presiding over military exercises. Since October 7, Sinwar has been “a shadow” believed to have initially been sheltering in the tunnels beneath Gaza City, then in Khan Younis, where he was born, and where Israeli officials discovered his recently vacated bunker in January.
When he was believed to be hiding under Gaza City, Sinwar still used cellular and satellite phones, some of whose calls American and Israeli spy agencies were able to monitor.
They were not, however, able to pinpoint his location.
Sinwar, who was named leader of Hamas in 2017 after being released from an Israeli prison in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange, has seen his network of political confidants steadily shrink since October 7. Mohammed Deif, leader of Hamas’ military wing, was killed in July in an airstrike, according to Israeli officials, who said they were able to locate him because he came above ground far more often than Sinwar does.
