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In a significant development in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Friday that they had successfully located and demolished a hideout apartment belonging to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in northern Gaza.
The operation, carried out by the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, revealed an extensive tunnel system beneath the hideout.
For weeks, the IDF has been pursuing Sinwar, a key figure in the Hamas leadership, but he has managed to elude capture, preventing Israel from claiming a decisive operational victory in the three-month-long conflict.
The hideout apartment, discovered on the outskirts of Gaza City, provided the IDF with crucial evidence indicating that Sinwar had been using it as a refuge.
The underground complex included a 20-meter-deep tunnel shaft leading to a 218-meter-long tunnel with multiple branches.
The IDF reported that the passages were equipped with electricity, air filtration systems, plumbing, and resting and prayer rooms, highlighting the elaborate measures taken to allow senior Hamas members to remain hidden for extended periods. Combat engineers later destroyed the tunnel.
This discovery comes after repeated claims by the IDF that they were closing in on Sinwar, who has been on the run since the conflict began. Despite destroying the hideout and tunnel, Sinwar remains at large, frustrating Israel’s efforts to capture him.
On Monday, Sinwar issued his first public statement in months, expressing defiance and exaggerating his terror group’s achievements in the ongoing war.
The statement followed a renewed threat from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who warned that Sinwar would soon “meet the barrels of our guns.”
Recent reports suggested that IDF troops had twice reached tunnels in Gaza, believed to be Sinwar’s hiding place, but the elusive leader managed to evade capture both times.
A senior Biden administration official also stated on December 14 that it was “safe to say” that Sinwar’s “days are numbered.”
Yahya Sinwar is believed to be hiding in Khan Younis after fleeing the northern part of the Strip.
His escape reportedly involved hiding in a humanitarian convoy heading south early in the conflict. Sinwar, sentenced to four life sentences by Israel in 1989 for planning the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians, was released 22 years later as part of the deal for the return of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Sinwar has been accused of overseeing the preparations and planning for the October 7 onslaught, during which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists entered Israel from land, air, and sea.
The attack resulted in over 1,200 casualties and the seizure of 240 hostages, marking the deadliest incident in the country’s history.
In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas from Gaza and end their 16-year rule, initiating an aerial campaign and subsequent ground operation.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported on Friday that at least 21,507 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the conflict began nearly 12 weeks ago, with 187 fatalities in the past 24 hours.
The statement added that 55,915 people had been wounded in Gaza during the fighting. It’s important to note that figures issued by the ministry cannot be independently verified and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.
According to IDF assessments, approximately 8,500 terror operatives have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
As the conflict persists, the discovery and destruction of Sinwar’s hideout underscore the complex nature of the battle between Israel and Hamas, with both sides striving for strategic advantages in the ongoing struggle for control and dominance in the region.
This article was created using automation technology and was thoroughly edited and fact-checked by one of our editorial staff members