The man believed by many to be the mastermind behind the 10/7 attack on Israel is Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar spent 22 years in an Israeli prison after he was convicted in 1989 of killing Palestinian informants and plotting the death of Israeli soldiers. He might still be there except that in 2011 he was released as part of a deal to secure the release of Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit who had been kidnapped and held by Hamas for five years. Ever since the 10/7 attack, Israel’s military has been looking for Sinwar.
In early December of this year the Israeli military said it had surrounded the home of Sinwar in his hometown of Khan Younis in the southern half of the Gaza Strip. They didn’t find him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Dec. 6 that it was “only a matter of time” before he was located. Israeli military leaders have described Sinwar as “a dead man…
