A crude sketch showing Hamas tunnel routes was found crumpled in Yahya Sinwar’s jacket when the terror chief was eliminated, providing new insight into how he evaded Israeli forces for over a year.
Channel 12 news revealed Thursday that the bloodstained, hand-drawn map outlined a grid-like network of tunnels beneath the Tel Sultan neighborhood in southern Gaza. According to the report, Sinwar apparently drew the diagram himself, marking hideouts and escape routes with code names including “The Old Camp,” “The Western Camp,” “The First,” and “The Last.”
Israeli forces killed Sinwar in mid-October after troops happened upon him and other Hamas operatives during a routine patrol in Rafah. His identity was confirmed through DNA testing, with the IDF later releasing dramatic footage of his final moments as he attempted to fight off a surveillance drone before being eliminated.
Seeking to confirm Sinwar’s identity, soldiers photographed the body’s teeth and sent the images to the Israeli police’s forensic unit to match them to Sinwar’s dental records from his time in Israeli custody. Along with fingerprints, all evidence came back as a match.
Military officials said Sinwar was forced above ground as Israeli troops systematically dismantled Hamas tunnel infrastructure in Rafah, particularly beneath the Tel Sultan neighborhood. His underground sanctuary had been equipped with televisions, food, sofas, beds, and communication equipment—luxuries that contrasted sharply with conditions faced by ordinary Gazans during the war.
DNA evidence recovered weeks earlier had already placed Sinwar in tunnel complexes near where six Israeli hostages were executed. Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi were killed by their captors on August 29,2024 their bodies discovered by troops less than two days later in a narrow 120-meter passageway. Military analysts believe Sinwar likely ordered the hostages’ execution as he fled the area ahead of advancing Israeli forces.
Sinwar had been living underground for extended periods since orchestrating the October 7 massacre that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. IDF footage released separately showed him fleeing into tunnels with his family and supplies on the night before the attack, carrying cash, documents, and weapons.
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