Israeli officials on Tuesday denied reports that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar fled to Egypt through a network of tunnels extending under the border.
According to Hebrew media reports, the Israeli security establishment estimated that Hamas leaders, including Sinwar and his brother Mohamed, recently fled to the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula through tunnels from Rafah, and may have taken hostages to use as human shields.
However the Israeli army confirmed that it has no information about Sinwar leaving Gaza, RT reported on Tuesday.
A leadership source in Hamas said Monday that “The occupation’s attempts to fabricate information about the movement’s leadership and Sinwar are ridiculous,” stressing that the occupation “aims to raise the collapsed morale of its army and its entity.”
A photo went viral on social media claiming to show the army arresting Sinwar. It was later confirmed untrue.
The Israeli army published footage earlier in February from inside one of the tunnels in which Sinwar was said to have been hiding with his family recently.
Israel did not provide further information to confirm its claim that Sinwar had resided in the tunnel complex.
