Israel has released what it said was footage of Hamas leader Yayha Sinwar seeking safety with this family in the tunnel complex of Gaza on the eve of last year’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, “Even on the eve before the brutal massacre, Sinwar was busy with his survival and the survival of his family.”
The footage of the architect of the October 7 atrocities, who was killed last week after a clash with Israel soldiers in Gaza, was seized several months ago.
“Sinwar hid most of the time underground in the area between Khan Younis and Rafah, and came out only to escape, accompanied by bodyguards and with documents, certificates, weapons and money in his possession,” Hagari was quoted as saying by the Times of Israel.
While Sinwar’s death has prompted renewed international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has showed no let-up in its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel said it has hit 175 terrorist targets over the past day.
An Israeli airstrike on the town of Beit Lahiya in the north of the strip on Sunday morning killed more than 70 people, Hamas claimed, but the IDF disputed the figures and accused the group of sharing “exaggerated” information according to the BBC.
On Sunday morning the Israeli Air Force said it had hit “a command centre of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters and an underground weapons workshop in Beirut”.
A scooter drives past a building in Beirut's southern suburbs hit by an Israeli strike on Saturday night (Photo: Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in defiant mood after a failed attempt on his life when a drone launched from Lebanon struck his home in the coastal city of Caesaria. There were no reports of casualties and the building is said to have sustained only minor damage.
In a statement, he said, “The agents of Iran who tried to assassinate me and my wife today made a bitter mistake.”
He added, “We will continue to eliminate your terrorists, we will return our hostages from Gaza, we will return our residents in the north.”
Israel has yet to retaliate against Iran for its missile assault on the country before Rosh Hashanah.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Netanyahu on Saturday, saying he was alarmed to hear about the drone launched at the Israeli leader’s home, according to Downing Street.
Starmer described Sinwar as a brutal terrorist and said the world was a better place without him. He also discussed the opportunity presented by his death to halt the fighting and get the hostages out, Downing Street said.
At an election rally, US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that Israel’s Prime Minister was in a stronger position because he was not listening to US president Joe Biden’s concerns about the conduct of the war, the BBC reported.
The US recently warned Israel it might curb arm supplies if more humanitarian aid was not allowed into northern Gaza.
