Israeli officials said they offered to ensure the safety of Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas leader and mastermind of the October 7 attacks, in exchange for the hostages that remain in Gaza.
Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostage and missing persons operations, claimed tense ceasefire talks with Hamas earlier this week offered promises to guarantee Shinwar’s safe exit from Gaza.
“We are ready to provide safe passage to Mr. Shinwal, his family and anyone who wishes to join him,” he told Bloomberg.
“We want the hostages back, and of course we want demilitarization, deradicalization and a new regime to govern Gaza,” he added.
The claim came after Hirsch made similar comments in a CNN interview on Sunday, saying the Jewish state would “create a safe passage for a terrorist mastermind, a new Hitler, a Sinwar.”
It is unclear whether Hamas has accepted the offer, but the terror group’s negotiating team met with Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries on Wednesday.
In a statement, the terrorist group said it would not accept any new conditions in ceasefire talks, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the IDF to maintain control of the Philadelphia route.
But Hamas may be open to new conditions, which Sinwar reportedly proposed himself last month.
Sinwar, who rose to the top of Hamas after the assassination of its former leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in July, has reportedly argued that a ceasefire was possible if Israel agreed to guarantee its own security.
But if the Hamas leader escapes the war unscathed, it will undermine repeated promises by the IDF to track him down and remove him.
According to reports, Sinwar was last seen on October 10, fleeing with his family through Gaza’s complex network of tunnels.
