The London-based Asharq Al-Awsat has reported that Israel was close to arresting Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar at least five times before he was "coincidentally" killed in a routine military operation.
The sources painted a detailed picture of Sinwar's movements and those of the people close to him during the war. They reported that Sinwar sent his family a message regarding the details of the death of his nephew, Ibrahim Muhammad al-Sinwar, who was accompanying him, and about the location of his burial, but the message only reached them two days after Sinwar himself was eliminated.
The reports also said that during the military operation in Khan Yunis in January, it was estimated that Sinwar was hiding in one of the tunnels. Forces entering the tunnels found footage from the cameras there showing Sinwar walking around and bringing a number of items into a tunnel where he had been hiding with his family hours before the massacre began, and at the start of the massacre itself.
But Israel did not manage to reach Sinwar while he was in the Khan Yunis tunnels, nor did it manage to reach him above them. When the military operation expanded both above and below ground, Sinwar was forced to provide a safe place for his wife and children, far away from himself, due to his constant need to flee. The sources said that his wife and children were doing well, and received written letters from him at least once every four to six weeks.
"With the increased intensity of the military operation in Khan Yunis, Sinwar insisted on remaining there, and bid farewell a number of times to his brother Muhammad and to Rafa'a Salameh, the commander of the region's brigade, who was eliminated last July together with Mohammed al-Deif (commander of the Al-Qassem Battalions), who he met sometimes since the start of the war in safe homes or tunnels." The sources explained that the four were not together the entire time, and met sometimes to spend hours or days with each other before separating again, in accordance with the situation on the ground.
The sources also told the newspaper one of the secrets only a few people know about the moments when the Israeli forces were only a few dozen meters away from the house Sinwar was in, alone except for one person who was helping him hide - his bodyguard - in Block G of Khan Yunis. According to the sources, Sinwar was armed at the time and ready to fight the Israeli forces.
The sources also said that Sinwar was removed from the home immediately, by means of breaches that Hamas terrorists made in nearby homes, and was then transferred to a safe house about one kilometer from where he had been staying. These sources also said that Sinwar was forced, pressured by his brother Salama, to leave Khan Yunis for Rafah in February. At that time the Israeli forces controlled Khan Yunis nearly completely.
Sinwar remained in Rafah for a number of months, wandering around multiple areas there. He remained in its western areas from the end of May, and stayed both above ground and below ground. During his time in Rafah, Sinwar stayed in a number of tunnels there, including in the tunnel where six Israelis were murdered in cold blood, in what seems to indicate a final decision on his part to murder them.