Israel to consider exiling Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leaders as part of deal: report

Israeli officials are mulling over the possibility of exiling Hamas leaders in Gaza, including Yahya Sinwar, to Sudan, as part of a deal, the Israeli Haaretz reported on Saturday.

According to the report, the leaders would be exiled with their consent, in an effort to reach a deal that would free the remaining captives held in Gaza.

The report adds that such an agreement may also include assets belonging to Hamas in Sudan being unfrozen.

Sudan froze assets belonging to the organisation around three years ago, after the US rescinded its listing of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Haaretz also stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously expressed in recent months that he is not ruling out the possibility of exiling Hamas officials to a third country, as part of an agreement to end the war.

"The idea of exile is there. We have, we can always discuss it, but I think the most important thing is surrender," Netanyahu said in an interview with American journalist Dan Senor on a podcast in May.

Last month, Israeli sources also reportedly told Haaretz that Israeli leaders may allow Sinwar and his family to leave Gaza if it meant it would end their rule in the Strip.

The sources added that if this did happen, it would not officially be defined as "exile" or "surrender", rather it would allow Israel to end the war while allowing Sinwar to lose his immediate influence on the Strip.

Israel’s Channel 12 also reported on Sunday that families of Israeli captives met with Qatari officials involved in negotiations this week and were told that Sinwar was “not communicating with us at the moment…he disappeared and stopped communicating by pone because of the assassinations".

The Qatari mediators added that Sinwar was now communicating via handwritten letters, making it difficult to get quick responses from him.

"Israel has adopted a policy of assassinations that has harmed the deal," the Qatari officials said.

This comes after Israel killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasralla in an air strike on Lebanon last month.

In July, Israel also killed Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a strike in Iran’s capital, despite the fact he was a key figure in ceasefire and captive exchange negotiations.