Tel Aviv, Dec 20 (IANS): The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said that they are very close in capturing the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar believed to be the man behind October 7 attacks.

The IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hageri said that they had reached near the tunnels where the Hamas leader Sinwar was hiding.

“IDF had specific information about the tunnel where Sinwar was hiding. However, he fled the tunnel only a few hours before the IDF conducted the raid,” he said.

He said that Sinwar is hiding in the nearby areas and the IDF is very close in capturing the Hamas leaders.

He said that the IDF has increased its presence in the Khan Younis area and an additional brigade has been pressed into action.

Sinwar is believed to be the brain behind the Hamas attack of October 7 which led to killing of 1200 and kidnapping of over 200 Israelis.

Israel launched a ground offensive inside Gaza on October 27 after Hamas attacked Israel in a surprise attack on October 7 in which 1200 Israelis were killed and over 200 were taken hostage.

Since the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, over 19,667 Palestinians have been killed, mostly being children and women.