Yahya Sinwar with His Fighters Outside the Tunnels and Israeli Comments

The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, has been absent from the media scene since the events of October 7, and no public appearances have been recorded, while it is believed that he remains in the movement's underground tunnels. However, Hebrew media reported information from Arab sources suggesting that Sinwar has emerged from the tunnels and met with Hamas forces above ground recently. A source within Hamas stated that Sinwar "recently checked the areas that witnessed confrontations" between Hamas and the Israeli army, "and met with some of the movement's fighters on the ground and not in the tunnels." The source claimed that Sinwar "is not isolated from reality" where he is hiding, adding that "talk of isolating Sinwar in the tunnels is nothing more than a claim from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his agencies to cover up their failure to achieve their stated goals." Micah Kobi, a former senior officer in the Shin Bet who interrogated Sinwar when he was still in prison in Israel, told Ma'ariv that "theoretically, there is a chance that Sinwar is taking advantage of the withdrawal of most of the Israeli army forces from the area to move freely while leading his fighters."