According to sources in Cairo and Gaza, Yahya Sinwar's fear of assassination was justified

• Sinwar // Photo: Reuters

Israel has considered eliminating two senior Hamas officials because of their opposition to the lull in its current format, senior Egyptian sources and sources in Gaza told Al-Arab al-Jadeid. According to the report, the Egyptian security delegation that arrived in the area convinced Israel to avoid it.

According to sources, the two senior officials that Israel planned to eliminate were Marwan Iss, the deputy commander of a-Zadin al-Qasam Brigades, the Hamas military wing, and Hamas leader Gaza Yahya Sinwar.

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Arab media reported that the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, refrained from meeting with the Egyptian delegation to the Gaza Strip for fear that Israel would be liquidated.

Sinwar's associates reportedly confirmed that while visiting Egypt's senior security delegation recently, Sinwar did not attend a meeting held in his office for fear that Israel would use the moment to liquidate.

Those close to the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip said he even denied bail by Egyptian mediators that Israel would not try to kill him. According to them, this absence from the meeting has angered the Egyptian officials who came to Gaza.

A few hours later, near the exit of the Egyptian delegation from the Gaza Strip, Arab media reported that Hamas had ordered its senior activists to refrain from telephone calls and some had even gone underground for fear of Israel trying to eliminate them.