IDF releases clips of Sinwar, family fleeing into tunnel on Oct. 6, says Hamas chief was preoccupied with own survival
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF releases footage showing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on the night before the October 7 onslaught fleeing with his family into a tunnel complex below his home in Khan Younis, while bringing equipment and supplies for a prolonged stay underground.
According to the IDF, the footage was recovered from Gaza several months ago.
“Even on the eve before the brutal massacre, Sinwar was busy with his survival and the survival of his family,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says in a press conference where he shows the footage, speaking first in Hebrew and then delivering brief remarks in English.
“A few hours before the massacre, Sinwar and his family escaped alone to the tunnel.” For hours, he says, the “went back and forth with sacks of food, water, pillows, a plasma television, mattresses and other supplies for a long stay.”
“Hours before the massacre, Sinwar only cared about himself and his family, while he sent terrorists for the murderous attack on Israeli children, women and men,” Hagari adds.
“Among other things, these videos led the IDF and Shin Bet to narrow down the area of the pursuit of Sinwar. We chased him and got him to act as a wanted fugitive,” he says.
Hagari says that in February, the IDF reached the “underground fortress” Sinwar had built in Khan Younis, but he had fled shortly before.
The IDF found “toilets, a shower, a kitchen, beds, uniforms, safes, lots of cash, documents and other intel.”
“Several times our forces were very close to him and reached the places where he stayed shortly before he managed to escape,” Hagari says.
He says the IDF’s offensive in Khan Younis prompted Sinwar to flee to Rafah, where he then hid in a tunnel built for Hamas VIPs in the Tel Sultan neighborhood.
“The complex had everything he needed, television, food, sofas, beds, means of communication and control. We found his DNA sample on a tissue there, with which he blew his nose,” Hagari says.
He says that according to the IDF’s intelligence, for the past year “Sinwar hid most of the time underground in the area between Khan Yunis and Rafah, and came out only to escape, accompanied by bodyguards and with documents, certificates, weapons and money in his possession.”
On Wednesday, IDF troops with the Bislamach Brigade spotted three gunmen near them and engaged them. One of them, later revealed to be Sinwar, split from the other two men and was killed by the forces.
“This is actually the first time that Yahya Sinwar, who had been hiding underground for a year, met the IDF forces in Gaza, and this is also the moment when he was eliminated,” Hagari says. “They closed the circle with the man responsible for the cruel massacre of October 7.”
The IDF also releases a new video showing the moment Sinwar was killed in the Tel Sultan neighborhood in southern Gaza’s Rafah by troops on Wednesday.
The video shows tank shelling and machine gun fire against a building where Sinwar had fled. He was killed in the exchange, and located and identified on Thursday.
Additional images released by the IDF show the tunnel in Tel Sultan where Sinwar hid in recent months, along with the tissues the IDF used to identify his DNA.
The tunnel where Sinwar had resided was close to the underground passage where six Israeli hostages were held and later murdered in August, Hagari says.
He stresses that “there were no hostages with Sinwar when he was eliminated,” and that the IDF “act with the caution necessary” to protect the hostages and its soldiers.
The IDF spokesman speaks at some length about Sinwar’s and other Hamas leaders’ cynical abuse of Gaza’s citizens, and their preoccupation with their own survival.
“What we showed tonight proves again that the leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization, whoever they are, do not care about the price that the people of Gaza pay. They use them only as human shields and are preoccupied solely with their own survival,” Hagari says.
“As we can see, all along, Sinwar was concerned first and foremost with himself and his own survival. An example of this is the cash he kept with him wherever he was.”
After his elimination, there are those who seek to restore his honor,” says Hagari. “But Sinwar lived and behaved like a wanted terrorist on the run.
and that’s how he ended his life.”
Contrasting this behavior with that of IDF commanders, he continues: “Throughout the past year, Sinwar hid and ran while often the war raged near and above him. While IDF commanders fought and fight at the front, Hamas terrorists carried out their actions as their leaders and commanders hid and made every effort to flee.”