Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, presumed killed in Israeli strike, is alive: Report

For the last 15 days, Israel had been investigating the possibility that Sinwar was killed in a rocket strike on September 21 that hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City.

In Short

• Israel was investigating possibility of Sinwar's death in Gaza strikes
• Sinwar has history of disappearing during past strikes
• Sinwar is mastermind of Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel

Hamas leader Sinwar is alive and has secretly established contact with Qatar, Israeli media outlet The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday. The development came days after it was reported that Israel was investigating the possibility of Sinwar's killing in a rocket strike that hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City.

However, a senior Qatari diplomat, exclusively told the Jerusalem Post, that reports of direct contact were false. According to the diplomat, contact was established through Khalil al-Hayah, a senior Hamas figure.

It further maintained that Qatari officials also previously stated that they believed Sinwar surrounded himself with hostages before going silent.

Sinwar was presumed to be killed in the September 21 Israeli strikes in Gaza, because he had not established contact with official channels for a long time.

The Israeli military said the attack targeted a Hamas command centre, but Palestinian health authorities said that women and children were among the 22 people killed in the strike.

In a report on September 22, the Times of Israel said that officials were investigating the possibility that Sinwar was dead, following up on military intelligence, as reported by Israeli journalist Ben Caspit.

Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7 attacks on Israel, succeeded as Hamas chief in August this year, after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in an explosion in Iran.

Born in 1962, Sinwar was an early member of Hamas, which was formed in 1987. He led the security arm of the militant group, which worked to get rid of the Israeli spies from the organisation.

He was arrested by Israel in the late 1980s and admitted to killing 12 suspected collaborators, a role that earned him the nickname "The Butcher of Khan Younis." He was eventually sentenced to four life terms for his crimes, which included the killing of 2 Israeli personnel.