Posted on 01/07/24
| News Source: JPost
Despite months of saying that all of the Hamas leaders are in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, some may be in central Gaza, the Jerusalem Post has learned.
Generally before October 7, Hamas’s “civilian” functions leadership, such as Yahya Sinwar’s apparatus for governing the Gaza Strip, was in Gaza City in northern Gaza.
There was also a military quarter in Gaza City where Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif spent time.
However, either in preparation for the October 7 invasion, around the time of the IDF invasion of October 25-27, or at the latest, once they saw that the IDF was invading for real and routing Hamas forces, the Hamas leadership fled in a southern direction from Gaza City.
For months, all top IDF and defense officials said that most or all of the hostages and Hamas high command had fled to southern Gaza, most likely to Khan Yunis.
There were already holes in some of these predictions when it turned out during the ceasefire week that Hamas was holding hostages in Shejaia.
Between December 10-18, the IDF learned that a second set of hostages had also been held in Shejaia, which the IDF mistakenly killed, thinking they were terrorists.