As rumors swirl that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed during IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip, senior officials in Qatar admitted that Sinwar has disappeared and is no longer communicating with them, Channel 12 News reported on Sunday.

According to the report, relatives of Israeli hostages who recently met with Qatari officials involved in hostage release negotiations were informed about the lack of communication with Sinwar.

“Sinwar has disappeared and is not communicating with us,” the officials said, adding that they believe Sinwar has surrounded himself with hostages and that there is no evidence indicating that he is dead.

Last month, during a meeting with the families of hostages, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant addressed reports that Sinwar may have been killed, saying there is no information indicating his death.

Gallant added that Sinwar is known to disappear periodically. “Sometimes he disappears for short periods and sometimes for longer ones,” he said. “We don’t know exactly what has happened to him. We have no information pointing to his death.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)