We’ll get him
Israel vows to catch Hamas chief as seized footage shows tunnel escape
ISRAELI troops have released footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar using one of Gaza’s tunnels with his family.
Israeli officials yesterday said that they remain determined to catch the 61-year-old fugitive “dead or alive”.
The one-minute clip, believed to have been filmed on a Hamas security camera, is from October 10, three days after Hamas’ raid on Israel.
Sinwar was identified after artificial intelligence sifted through hours of footage and then analysts identified him from the size of his ears.
This is the first time he has been seen since he is thought to have fled from north Gaza to the south, using the “Gaza metro” – the Hamas tunnel network.
He is seen walking with his wife and three children through the tunnel that snakes under Khan Younis.
His brother Ibrahim is with him, according to the Israeli Defence Forces, which seized the footage.
HUNT
Experts said Sinwar appeared to be in good health and was carrying a bag and wearing Adidas flip-flops. One of his daughters is also holding a doll.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “We are determined to capture him – and we will capture him.
“The hunt for Sinwar will not stop until we catch him, dead or alive.”
Meanwhile, talks involving the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar on a truce ended without a breakthrough.
It comes as the UN warned that Israel’s planned invasion into Rafah in the south, where more than one million Palestinians are still sheltering, could lead to slaughter.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said the ground assault may leave an “already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door”.
However, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat the Hamas gunmen he says are holed up in the city.
The toll of the war on Gazans is believed to have topped 28,000 dead, with more than 67,000 wounded. A quarter of residents are starving.