Israel’s prime target: the hunt for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. There is no shortage of expertise among Sinwar’s hunters. Would his death or capture stop the war? Whether it would stop the war is quite another question.
Michael Milshtein, a former head of the Palestinian affairs section in Israeli Military Intelligence (Aman): “But remember, Sinwar prepared for a decade for this offensive and IDF intelligence was very surprised by the size and length of the tunnels under Gaza and how sophisticated they were.”
“It is an ideological war, not a war about Sinwar.”
“I’m quite sure that someone will replace, or actually has already replaced, Mohammed Deif, and if Sinwar is killed there will be someone else … You cannot create a fantasy. It will not end the war.”
The IDF estimates there are 500km (300 miles) of tunnels under Gaza, an entire underground city.
Targeted killings have been a core tactic of Israel’s military since the founding of the state. Since the second world war, Israel has assassinated more people than any other country in the western world.
The assumption made by Sinwar’s trackers is that he has long since abandoned using electronic communication, well aware of the skills and technology possessed by his pursuers.
Sinwar’s death or capture would undoubtedly be hailed as a major military success by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has made the destruction of Hamas’s “military and governing capabilities” a primary war aim.
Out of its two primary war aims, the Netanyahu government puts the destruction of Hamas above the rescue of the hostages.
