PM directs his aide to tell families that no hostages harmed in incident where terrorist strongly resembling Sinwar was killed

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office says the premier directed his military secretary to instruct the IDF to inform the families of hostages that there were no signs of harm to any hostages during the recent incident in Gaza where a terrorist strongly resembling Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was found.

There had been widely circulated reports throughout the war that Sinwar was surrounding himself with Israeli hostages to ensure his safety, and a senior US official briefing reporters earlier this month said that this was the Biden administration’s assessment as well.

The IDF says it is still assessing whether the terrorist recently killed by the IDF was indeed Sinwar, adding that there were no hostages found in the building where the body in question was recovered.

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