Channel 12 refutes report Sinwar planned to smuggle himself, hostages out of Gaza via Philadelphi Corridor

Channel 12 news refutes a report that Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was planning to smuggle himself and other leaders from the terror group, along with some of the remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, out of Gaza via the Philadelphi Corridor and thence to Iran.

Citing unnamed intelligence sources, The Jewish Chronicle reported yesterday that Sinwar was planning to slip away through the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and from there to Iran.

But Channel 12 reports that “all of the relevant sources in the security establishment” are unaware of the supposed intelligence.

The Jewish Chronicle report was picked up by some right-wing Hebrew media outlets and shared on social media by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Yair.

Netanyahu has in recent weeks insisted that Israel must retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor for the foreseeable future, even during the potential first 42-day phase of a hostage-ceasefire deal in which some 30 living hostages could be freed. He has said that control of the route, along the Gaza-Egypt border, is crucial to Israel’s future, because of the danger that otherwise Hamas would resume weapons smuggling across the border, and build up forces for further October 7 massacres.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and all of Israel’s security chiefs are widely reported to have said that alternative solutions can be found to control the border, and that the IDF could swiftly return after the first phase of the deal, or at any other time, and expressed fears that Netanyahu, in raising the Philadelphi demand, is sabotaging a potential deal in order to satisfy his far-right coalition partners and retain power.