A Palestinian source said at the end of the week that Sinuwar passed instructions to his deputy, and he is negotiating on his behalf. The source added, "They did not find Sinuwar in the north of the Strip, they did not find him in the center, they did not find him in Khan Yunis, perhaps Israel should look for him under one of the kibbutzim." The source presented this statement as criticism that Israel is looking in the wrong place: that is, from the idea that if Sinuwar is captured, Israel will no longer have to negotiate on Hamas' demands.

By Mati Cohen, editor of The Israeli Palestinian Post

Israel leaked that Yahya Sinuwar is out of touch, but this is not the reality, a senior Palestinian source in Ramallah told us this week. He has a connection with his people, the source added. According to him, the purpose of the Israeli leak is to make Sinuwar make a mistake, which will lead the IDF to him: "I know him. He will not respond to anything that was said in the negotiations, he will not film an interview to prove that he is alive and functioning, and he will not say anything until he has something new to say. His silence is a statement that his demands have not been met, and he is waiting until they are met," said the source.

According to the source, Israel believes that its victory depends on the capture of Sinuwar, but this is a mistake. Hamas demands will not disappear even if Sinuwar is captured, he said, and therefore Israel must address Sinuwar's demands and not his location. The source added: "They didn't find him in the north of the Gaza Strip, they didn't find him in the center, they didn't find him in Khan Yunis, maybe they should look for him under one of the kibbutzim."

Last week we reported here on the alliance between Sinuwar and Marwan Barghouti (and between Sinwar's Hamas movement and Barghouti's Fatah movement); We published the first report about this here in December 2022. At that time, we reported that Barghouti asked Sinuwar to bring about his release in a prisoner deal. Last week we wondered whether Barghouti already knew about the expected attack by Hamas on the south of Israel, and about the campaign of massacre, rape and looting that the Islamo-Nazi movement would perpetrate. The source added to this alliance this week and said that it causes deep concern in the Palestinian Authority, because it expresses a public development that has great support among the Palestinian public. Last week we mentioned that this is a prisoner alliance; The source reinforced this assumption and said that indeed the alliance between Sinuwar and Barghouti strengthened when both faced the reality of a long prison term in an Israeli prison.

According to the Palestinian source, the rapprochement between Sinuwar and Barghouti points to a profound change that has taken place in Hamas since October 7, and the moderation of the movement in two main ways: one is expressed in the organization's agreement to join the PLO (led by Barghouti), and the other is the recognition that a long-standing peace must be concluded with Israel, in which recognition in the idea of ​​two states for two peoples, and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territories conquered in 1967. In this context, it should be mentioned that Islam allows people who negotiate under its auspices, to deceive the other side, to make an agreement, and when the day comes to violate it, and this is according to the story of Muhammad's war with the Jews of Khaybar. In other words, Hamas's moderation could also be seen as a tactical step on the way to the destruction of Israel.