Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is alive and has renewed contact with Qatari mediators, Israeli media reported on Monday, citing various sources, including Al-Arabiya and the Daily Mail.
Recently, a Senior Qatari diplomat told the Jerusalem Post that reports of direct contact are false, and all negotiation efforts have been through senior Hamas political figure Khalil al-Hayah.
Speaking exclusively to The Jerusalem Post, the diplomat clarified that all mediation efforts are conducted exclusively through representatives from Hamas’s political office in Doha.
Qatari officials also previously reported that they believed Sinwar surrounded himself with hostages before going silent.
Previous speculations stated that Sinwar might’ve been killed because he hadn’t established contact with official channels for a long time.
No deal in sight?
N12 reported that sources familiar with the negotiations for the deal claimed Sinwar was out of touch because he was convinced that Israel was not interested in reaching a deal.
The New York Times published a similar report just two days ago.
This is a developing story.
Zvika Klein contributed to this report.
