Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is still hiding in tunnels under Khan Yunis, not in Rafah, American officials told the New York Times on Sunday.
According to the cited anonymous American officials, Israeli intelligence agencies agree that Sinwar and other Hamas leaders are not hiding in Rafah and are likely still under Khan Yunis, a city north of Rafah that the IDF pulled out of in early April. The officials added that they don't believe Sinwar was ever hiding in Rafah.
The architect of the October 7 massacre is also believed to be protecting himself with a group of Israeli hostages he uses as human shields in order to stop Israel from raiding or bombing his hideout, US and Israeli officials told the New York Times.
The US officials added that Israeli intelligence agencies have as good, or better, intelligence about Sinwar and that the US shares everything it knows with Israel. The comments by the US officials are seemingly in reference to a Saturday report by The Washington Post that the US had offered sensitive intelligence concerning the location of Hamas leaders to Israel if Israel agreed to hold back from a full-scale invasion of Rafah, a report that sparked outrage among Israeli leaders and pro-Israel politicians and activists.
According to the New York Times, US officials believe that if Israel is able to kill either Sinwar or Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, then the Israeli government could claim victory and tone down military operations.
In February, The Washington Post similarly reported that Sinwar was hiding in Khan Yunis and had not fled to Rafah or elsewhere. That report as well noted that Sinwar was believed to be surrounding himself with a human shield of Israeli hostages.
Sinwar was born in Khan Yunis in 1962. He became infamous for murdering suspected Palestinian collaborators, gaining the nickname "the Butcher of Khan Yunis" and eventually landing in an Israeli prison until he was released in 2011 as part of the deal to release IDF soldier Gilad Schalit from Hamas captivity.
US working to prevent an invasion of Rafah
The US has been intensifying efforts to stop Israel from conducting a full-scale invasion, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken telling NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that a major operation in Rafah would not destroy Hamas.
Blinken warned that Israel needed to work to create an "enduring result" in Gaza and broadly in the region, a goal that he insisted cannot be accomplished solely with military operations. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has been holding back some arms shipments, saying the decision to do so was made due to concerns about a possible invasion of Rafah.