Yahya Sinwar insisting that Israel not threaten him personally as a condition for a ceasefire and hostage deal, Egyptian source claims.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Hamas leader and October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar has added a personal safety guarantee as a new condition to the hostages-for-ceasefire-and-prisoners deal currently on the table, an Egyptian source told Ynet Wednesday.
According to the news site, senior officials in Egypt who spoke with American officials said that “Sinwar emphasizes that his safety and well-being must be guaranteed,” meaning that Israel will undertake not to eliminate him at all, from the moment that a deal is signed and onwards.
This alleged concern for his own wellbeing is in marked contrast to his view that that the thousands of deaths of Gazan civilians in the ongoing war that he began with Israel are “necessary sacrifices” for the Palestinian cause, as reported in June by the Wall Street Journal from leaked Palestinian messages.
Hamas’ Gaza chief has been seen by some as the main obstacle to obtaining a ceasefire deal, with some critics saying that his hardline positions stemmed from his being cut off from the reality in Gaza due to his living constantly underground in the Gazan tunnels for fear of being killed by Israeli forces.
He was then chosen some two weeks ago to replace the terror organization’s Qatar-based “political” leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated last month in Tehran, allegedly by Israel.
As Haniyeh had been the power behind the Hamas deal-negotiating team all these months with the Qataris, Egyptians and Americans, Sinwar’s newly combined authority seemingly makes him the only go-to personality in the negotiations.
According to the Egyptian source, Sinwar is managing to get short and clear messages across to the Israelis via the other countries’ emissaries to the talks.
In terms of a possible deal to get the 109 remaining hostages back, only two thirds of whom may still be alive, Hamas has so far shot down the bridging proposal set forth by the Americans last week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the proposal on Monday after a long meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken then told reporters that “It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same,” although he acknowledged that there were still “complex issues” to be worked out.
These include Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel retain physical control of the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egyptian-Gazan border, which the IDF has deemed the Hamas “lifeline” for military resupply as it is riddled with smuggling tunnels, some large enough for trucks to pass through.
Cairo itself has insisted that it will not allow an Israeli presence there.
The latest reported proposal was that electronic and other surveillance means would be placed underground in the 8.7-mile-long strip, and that Egypt would erect a metal wall to prevent any and all smuggling attempts.
Israeli military authorities have said that they would accept a withdrawal from the Corridor if the political echelon decided on it in the framework of a hostage deal, despite the danger of Hamas rearming if the IDF leaves.
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