Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu passed up 11 opportunities to assassinate Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the months leading up to October 7, 2023, a security forces official claimed to N12 on Wednesday.
According to N12's source, after seeing escalation from Gaza during the months before the attack, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) notified Netanyahu 11 times that an effective assassination of Sinwar could be conducted, yet each time, Netanyahu refused to even lead a discussion about it.
N12 had previously reported that Netanyahu had received an intelligence briefing from then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar on October 1, six days before the massacre, in which he presented the possibility of killing Sinwar. Netanyahu reportedly ignored the suggestion.
Prime Minister's Office denies allegations
The Prime Minister's Office, responding to this allegation, stated that it was completely false. "Exactly the opposite! Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly demanded that the Hamas leadership be thwarted, and security officials blocked this, which is well documented in the minutes."
Sinwar took responsibility as the architect of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, which led to over 1,200 deaths and terrorists taking approximately 250 hostages into the strip. He was killed by the IDF in Tel Sultan in Rafah in an unplanned operation in October 2024.
James Genn contributed to this report.