1 week ago
JERUSALEM – The violent mastermind down Hamas' massacre of astir 1,200 people, including complete 30 Americans, is believed to beryllium utilizing hostages arsenic quality shields to clasp disconnected Israeli soldiers seeking to seizure him successful a passageway heavy beneath Gaza.
The shocking accusation astir Hamas kingpin Yahwa Sinwar was revealed by Gen. Jack Keane, FOX News Channel elder strategical expert and erstwhile U.S. service vice main of staff, successful an question and reply pinch Sky News Australia connected Thursday.
Hamas violent leader Yahya Sinwar speaks to a crowd. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
"My sources show maine that Sinwar, who is nan number 1 leader successful Gaza of nan Hamas organization, has 15-20 hostages protecting him and his family," Keane said. "That’s why they person these hostages, to guarantee their survival. Israel is perfectly correct successful putting subject unit connected them to unit nan merchandise of nan hostages."
Keane’s revelation coincides pinch statements by Israel’s national information adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, successful an question and reply pinch Israeli news outlet Channel 12 connected Saturday that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) astir killed Sinwar. Hanegbi said Sinwar "is surviving connected borrowed time," and that "he won’t look live from this confrontation."
Israel is offering a $400,000 bounty for nan seizure of Sinwar. In December, Israel dropped leaflets connected Gaza offering rewards for accusation astir nan location of Hamas’ apical leadership.
Hanegbi said nan IDF was adjacent to sidesplitting Sinwar complete nan past fewer months. "It is apparently difficult for [Sinwar] to make a determination [regarding a hostage agreement] that is apt to mean nan extremity of Hamas rule," noted Hanegbi, who added that "because nan infinitesimal he gives up connected nan highly important paper for his survival, our hostages, it’s not easy for him, and that’s why things are delayed."
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Terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar waves during a rally. (Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua via Getty Images)
The citizenship creation of nan hostages being utilized by Sinwar – successful usurpation of world humanitarian rule – is unclear. Five Americans are believed to beryllium among nan much than 100 hostages held by Hamas.
Hamas invaded Israel connected Oct. 7, 2023, and arsenic portion of its bulldoze of astir 1,200 people, nan violent group took complete 200 hostages into Gaza. A November hostage deal secured nan state of much than 100 hostages, mostly women and children, successful speech for Israel’s merchandise of dozens of Palestinian terrorists.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a military cognition into Rafah – nan past awesome metropolis controlled by Hamas and wherever Sinwar is believed beryllium hiding pinch his hostages. Israel’s information nonsubjective is besides to destruct nan tunnels betwixt Egypt and Rafah that alteration Hamas to smuggle successful weapons.
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Israel is offering a $400,000 bounty for nan seizure of Yahya Sinwar. (Mohammed Talatene/picture confederation via Getty Images)
The Biden management has frankincense acold opposed Israel’s warfare scheme to conclusion Hamas successful Rafah because of concerns of civilian deaths.
Hamas retains 4 battalions successful Rafah coupled pinch thousands of violent fighters. While nan Rafah cognition looms, analyzable negotiations are unfolding successful Cairo and whitethorn slow nan gait of Israel’s efforts to guidelines retired Hamas terrorists successful nan metropolis populated pinch much than a cardinal Palestinians.
David Wurmser, a erstwhile elder advisor for nonproliferation and Middle East strategy for erstwhile Vice President Dick Cheney, said astir Sinwar’s usage of hostages that "the holding of hostages – since he values their lives nil – is thing much than, say, a worker taking screen down a character aliases stone erstwhile nether dense fire. It is not cowardice, but an intelligent and primordial impulse. He has nary much empathy for a hostage than a worker does for nan rock. Indeed, nan aforesaid pinch nan ‘innocent’ Palestinian civilians."
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An Israeli charismatic said nan IDF was adjacent to sidesplitting Sinwar complete nan past fewer months. (Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
"All is portion of a very sober and logical strategy. And fixed nan magnitude he has taken power of Israeli and U.S. argumentation pinch hostages and quality shields, it’s a very logical strategy," Wurmser added. "We see it sadistic – but that requires empathy, which he is devoid of, and immoral, but that implies that advancing Islam astatine each costs is nan eventual morality and nan select for determining whether an action is civilized aliases not."
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Yaakov Katz, a senior chap astatine nan Jewish People Policy Institute who was a erstwhile editor-in-chief of nan Jerusalem Post, wherever he remains a columnist, told Fox News Digital that Sinwar is crafty and ruthless.
"Sinwar has played Israel very smartly since Oct. 7, sometimes seeming arsenic if he understands Israel amended than Israel understands itself. He has utilized nan hostages efficaciously to execute his goals and has managed to support himself ever a measurement up of nan IDF successful its efforts to seizure aliases termination him."
