The New York Times revealed that “Israel was able to monitor calls made by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar from inside the tunnels with the help of American eavesdropping devices, but it was unable to locate him.”
The newspaper quoted officials in Israel and the United States as saying that “both countries have pumped enormous resources into trying to find Al-Sinwar.”
Sinwar has long since abandoned electronic communications, has so far avoided sophisticated intelligence ambushes, and is believed to remain in contact with the organization he leads through a network of human couriers, U.S. and Israeli officials said. “How this system works remains a mystery.”
The newspaper added, “Since the beginning of the war, Al-Sinwar has been able to ‘exit the tunnels more than once in complete secrecy and without being detected, and he was not spotted until after his return to the tunnels.'”
According to the newspaper, “In the first weeks of the Gaza war, when Sinwar was still using mobile and satellite phones from time to time to talk to Hamas officials in Doha, American and Israeli spy agencies were able to monitor some of those calls but were unable to locate him.”
According to the newspaper, “Israeli, Qatari, Egyptian and American officials indicated that communicating with Sinwar has become more difficult. While he used to respond to messages within days, the officials said that getting a response from him has taken much longer in recent months, and that he has sometimes used some of his deputies as his agents in negotiations.”
It is noteworthy that after the October 7 attacks, Israeli military intelligence and the Israeli internal security service, the Shin Bet, formed a cell whose sole mission was to find Sinwar. The CIA also established a task force, and the United States provided Israel with ground-penetrating radar to help track Sinwar and other Hamas leaders.
According to the newspaper, “This radar was used to help map hundreds of miles of tunnels under Gaza, as well as new images and Israeli intelligence gathered from captured Hamas fighters and a large collection of documents, to build a more accurate picture of the tunnel network.”
Last updated: August 25, 2024 – 14:11
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2024-08-26 13:23:03