Report: Sinwar was offered a chance to leave Gaza for Egypt during war, but refused
In talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Arab mediators made the proposal to now-slain terror chief, who rejected the idea, Wall Street Journal says
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, killed by IDF troops last week, was at one stage offered the chance to leave the Gaza Strip in exchange for allowing Egypt to negotiate on the terror group’s behalf for a hostage deal, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
“I’m not under siege, I’m on Palestinian soil,” Sinwar reportedly told Arab mediators in response to the proposal, soon after the start of the war sparked by the October 7, 2023, massacre, which he orchestrated.
According to the report, as the war went on, Sinwar accepted that he was likely to be killed and according to mediators, suggested that the terror group choose a leadership council to govern and manage the transition after his death.
According to the report, based on interviews with Israeli, US, Hamas and Arab officials, Siwnar repeatedly told Hamas negotiators in Qatar to not agree to a ceasefire deal, saying in one message that high civilian deaths in Gaza would put international pressure on Israel. Sinwar was said to be holding out in the hope that the fighting in Gaza would trigger a regional war against Israel.
As Israel closed in on Sinwar, destroying the Gaza tunnel infrastructure where he was hiding, he was forced to spend more time on the surface, which increased the chances of him being killed.
In a message to prepare for his possible death, Sinwar warned that Israel would offer concessions if he was killed but that Hamas should not give in.
The report said that under a previous government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, attempts were made to kill Sinwar and his military chief Muhammad Deif, but Israeli officials believed that the terror leaders were deterred. Netanyahu’s successor (and predecessor) Naftali Bennett proposed assassinating Sinwar on at least two occasions before his government collapsed, according to the report.
Sinwar, who was seen as a major obstacle to a hostage deal, was killed last Wednesday in an encounter with IDF troops operating in southern Gaza’s Rafah. Israel says Deif was assassinated in July.
Sinwar’s death has sparked hopes of a renewed opportunity to revitalize the long-stalled negotiations for the release of the 101 remaining hostages held by Hamas and for an end to the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian terror group that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble over the past 12 months.
Officials in Egypt are hoping that Sinwar’s death will provide new impetus to stalled negotiations for a ceasefire, including changing Israel’s “uncompromising position” on Gaza after the war ends, the Saudi-based Al-Arabiya network reported Monday.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is due to visit Israel on Tuesday and then Egypt the day after. Al-Arabiya reported that talks in Cairo will focus on establishing an international force to oversee the administration of Gaza and the strategic border between the enclave and Egypt, the so-called Philadelphi Corridor. Israel has insisted on maintaining some control over the corridor, saying it needs to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza.
On Sunday, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar reportedly visited Cairo to discuss the attempted revival of hostage deal negotiations.
An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Netanyahu was looking for an opportunity to wrap up the war with a hostage deal, as the relatives of many of the hostages have urged him to do.
Channel 12 reported that Israel had indicated to the US in recent days that it was ready to make concessions in some areas that previously were not considered up for debate.
The report did not elaborate on what the concessions could entail.
The US, too, has voiced optimism that Sinwar’s death could present a new opportunity for a hostage release and ceasefire deal. But reports on Sunday indicated that in private, officials are doubtful.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Ongoing attempts since then to broker a deal for the release of the remaining hostages still held captive by Hamas have repeatedly failed, as Israel and the terror group accuse each other of sabotaging negotiations.
