Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief in Gaza and one of the central figures behind the October 7 atrocities, spent much of his time hiding in the tunnel system constructed by the terror group beneath the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday night, Channel 12 News reported that after Sinwar was killed in Rafah, security forces recovered a blood-soaked note from his pocket. The paper contained a hand-drawn diagram of the tunnel maze under the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, the same area where he was eventually tracked down and eliminated.
The report stated that Sinwar personally sketched the map. The document, stained with blood after he was shot, highlighted possible escape routes he planned to use if Israeli forces closed in on his location.
In addition to escape paths, the map included special code names that Sinwar had designated for various sections of the underground network, marking the places he had likely hidden during the Israeli army’s maneuvers above ground.
As the IDF pressed forward, systematically dismantling the Hamas tunnels in Rafah—especially those beneath Tel al-Sultan—Sinwar was forced out of his underground shelter and attempted to remain in hiding. His efforts failed, and nearly a year after the war began, he was killed.
Months after his death, Al Jazeera aired footage from Gaza that showed Sinwar in Rafah before his elimination, directing Hamas fighters and moving through the city.
The broadcasts showed him in disguise around the Tel al-Sultan camp, covering himself with a blanket while slipping between ruined buildings to supervise the fighting. Another clip revealed him examining maps inside a Rafah residence, where Hebrew words on the wall suggested Israeli troops had previously occupied the house.
{Matzav.com}
