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In this round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the new leader of the Hamas Political Bureau, Yahya Sinwar, has long been regarded by Israel as the "primary target for elimination." However, he has successfully evaded the roundup by the United States and Israel and has been "invisible" for more than 10 months.

On the 25th local time, more than 20 Israeli and American officials revealed that the United States and Israel have invested a lot of resources to hunt down Sinwal, but he broke through the encirclement and escaped successfully every time, so no results were achieved.

▲Yahya Sinwar

Sinwar was one of the planners and commanders of Hamas's raid on Israel on October 7 last year, and on July 31 he replaced the assassinated former leader of the Hamas Politburo and became the de facto "number one" of Hamas.

According to a report by Xinhua News Agency on August 7, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) issued a statement on the 6th saying that Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, became the leader of Hamas's Political Bureau, replacing the assassinated Ismail Haniyeh.

Israel has listed Sinwar as its primary target for elimination since the beginning of this round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For this purpose, it has set up a special task force within the headquarters of its domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet to track Sinwar's whereabouts. At the same time, it has received support from US government agencies to help monitor Sinwar's communications.

The United States has also provided ground-penetrating radar to map the hundreds of kilometers of tunnel network beneath the Gaza Strip to aid the search. A senior Israeli official said the U.S. intelligence support was "invaluable."

However, despite these efforts, Israel and the United States failed to successfully snipe Sinwar.

▲A poster of Sinwar hangs in a window in Beirut

It is reported that since the outbreak of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, Sinwar has not appeared in public and has not left any clues, as if he has become a "ghost."

Israeli and U.S. officials believe Sinwar is hiding in a tunnel underground in the Gaza Strip.

Intelligence shows that Sinwar has been with his family for at least six months since the conflict broke out, using cell phones and satellite phones, insisting on watching Israel's 8 p.m. news program and occasionally speaking with Hamas officials in Doha. U.S. and Israeli spy agencies were able to monitor some of the calls but were unable to determine his location.

U.S. and Israeli officials said that in order to avoid U.S. and Israeli surveillance,Sinwar long ago gave up electronic communication and now keeps in touch with the organization through a network of human couriers, but how this network works remains a mystery.

Sinwar initially hid in the tunnels of Gaza City, then moved to Khan Yunis in the south, and later traveled back and forth between Rafah.Sometimes, for health reasons, Sinwar would leave the tunnels, but he remained undetected due to the vast network of tunnels and Hamas’s intimate knowledge of the Israeli military’s movements.

▲The Israeli military released a video shot last October that allegedly showed Sinwar walking through an underground tunnel in Gaza

The Israeli military said they had targeted Sinwar's hideout and launched a raid on January 31, but Sinwar had fled the scene a few days before the raid, leaving behind about $1 million worth of Israeli shekels and a stack of documents.

Israeli intelligence sources said:Sinwar also "disguised himself as a woman" and hid among the people of Gaza.

Israel has made the complete destruction of Hamas a condition for victory in the war and has listed Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Sinwar, former Hamas Politburo leader Haniyeh, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Dafe as targets, among whom Haniyeh has been assassinated.

According to Xinhua News Agency on August 1, the Israeli military confirmed on August 1 that Mohammed Dave, leader of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), was killed in an Israeli air strike on Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip on July 13.

Analysts said that in the eyes of the Israeli top brass, the removal of Sinwar, the last survivor on the Hamas top list, was an important turning point. U.S. officials believe that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu hopes to claim a major military victory by removing Sinwar, which may make him more willing to end the military operation in Gaza.

However, the analysis also pointed out that the impact of Sinwar's assassination on the ongoing ceasefire and hostage release negotiations in the Gaza Strip is unclear. "If Sinwar is killed, his successor may be more reluctant to negotiate with Israel, so there is no guarantee that Sinwar's death will end the conflict."

Red Star News reporter Deng Shuyi compiled Xinhua News Agency (Wang Zhuo Lun, Wang Yijun, etc.)