Sinwar said ‘out of contact’ for past 10 days, leading Hamas to respond to Qatari framework without him

The security establishment reportedly believes that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been “out of contact” for the past ten days, not making any contact with Qatari and Egyptian mediators during that period.

Channel 12 says the reason for the disconnect is not clear and could be because he is on the run, engaged in a tactical ruse or simply unable to make contact due to the ongoing communications problems in Gaza.

Several decisions were made by Hamas in the past few days without him, though not necessarily ones relating to the hostages deal, Channel 12 says.

Kan reports that the Israeli security establishment’s assessment is that Sinwar was not involved in the issuing of Hamas’s response to the Qatari hostage deal framework earlier this week, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed yesterday as “delusional.”

The Hamas response included a clause stating that the deal would be “subject to the approval of the Hamas leadership in Gaza.”