Video released

Hamas chief fled massacre with plasma TV

Sinwar probably knew what his ordered October massacre would trigger.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP/IDF)

The Israeli army has published new information about the hiding place of the slain Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar. The terror leader is said to have had access to an "underground fortress" - luxury included.

According to the information, video footage shows Sinwar entrenching himself with his family in an underground tunnel system before the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.

The footage released by the army at the weekend shows Sinwar, dressed in a plain T-shirt, his wife and two sons walking through a tunnel in which the Hamas chief apparently stores extensive supplies.

Hamas chief holed up before October massacre
"Sinwar and his family can be seen taking refuge in an underground complex beneath his house on the evening of October 6, just hours before the horrific massacre," said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.

Watch the video here:

"Sinwar and his son are going up and down with food, water, cushions, a plasma TV, mattresses and other things for a long stay," Hagari elaborated.

The Hamas chief had built "an underground fortress in his city of Khan Younis" in the center of the Gaza Strip, "from where he gave the order to attack," the army spokesman said. He also showed pictures of the underground hideout with showers, toilets, kitchens and beds.

The entire statement from the Israeli military:

The hideout in Khan Younis had reportedly already been discovered by the Israeli army in February. The Hamas leader had apparently fled to Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip shortly beforehand. Sinwar had moved between the two cities through a huge underground network, always accompanied by bodyguards.

Sinwar had escaped several times
The Israeli forces almost surrounded him several times during the war, but he always managed to escape, said Hagari. The hunt for him had continued on the ground and underground "with the aim of isolating Sinwar until he made a mistake". Sinwar's whereabouts in Rafah were finally established after "his DNA sample was found on a handkerchief he had used to blow his nose", said the army spokesman.

Sinwar now enjoys a saintly status in the Islamist scene.

(Bild: AFP)

Sinwar was killed on Wednesday during an Israeli military operation . The Hamas terrorists rejected Hagari's statements that their chief had gone into hiding and put the lives of his family above those of other people as "obvious lies".

"Commander Yahya al-Sinwar died a martyr's death after participating heroically in the battle and leading the greatest battle in the history of our Palestinian people," a Hamas statement said. Sinwar had not appeared in public since the unprecedented large-scale attack on Israel just over a year ago.