Israel offers up to $400,000 for Hamas leaders' whereabouts

(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces is urging Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to help topple Hamas rule, with flyers dropped in the coastal enclave promising up to $400,000 for information on the whereabouts of Yahya Sinwar and other terror leaders.

“Hamas’s end is near. For your future. Anyone who can present information that could help us arrest the individuals who brought destruction and ruins to the Gaza Strip will be rewarded,” read the pamphlets, photos of which were shared on social media.

Gazans are offered $400,000 for information on Hamas chief in the Strip Yahya Sinwar; $300,000 for intel on his brother, terror commander Muhammad Sinwar; $200,000 for intel on Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Yunis Battalion; and $100,000 for intel on Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades “military” wing.

The flyers, which contained the logo of Israel’s armed forces and promised confidentiality, include an Israeli phone number and the username of an account on the Telegram messaging app.

Last week, IDF troops surrounded the residence of Sinwar in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Sinwar is believed to live in Khan Yunis in the southern Strip.

“His house is not a fortress and he can escape, but it’s only a matter of time before we get to him,” vowed the premier.

Sinwar, considered one of the masterminds of the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in the northwestern Negev, may try to escape into Egypt through entry points under mosques, Israeli media reported last week.

Hamas’s Religious Endowment Ministry recently ordered the opening of mosques to accept displaced persons. At least five of them are near the Philadelphi Corridor, the Gaza-Egypt border.

The mosques have tunnels under them leading across the corridor into Egypt, Channel 12 reported on Dec. 6, suggesting that they could provide an escape route for Sinwar and other senior Hamas leadership.

Asked by JNS about Israel’s efforts to keep tabs on the border, Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Eylon Levy said that Jerusalem could not comment on the “various intelligence means” it is using to keep tabs on Sinwar and other terrorists.

“We certainly will continue making every effort to bring them to justice and to get our hands on all of the monsters responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre,” he said.

On Oct. 14, IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told journalists that Sinwar and his entire command team were in Israel’s sights. “Yahya Sinwar is the face of evil,” he said.