The United States believes Hamas leader Yahya Shinuwar is alive, and is likely hiding in an underground tunnel in the Gaza Strip with hostages close by, President Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk said.

“Yahia Sinuar remains the one who makes the decisions. He remains – we believe – alive and in a tunnel under Gaza, holding hostages and probably with hostages in his area,” Magerk said when contacted by American rabbis.

This is the most detailed update on Sinuar’s condition from a senior US official in weeks, if not months. In recent days, Sinwar has reportedly re-established contact with Hamas officials outside Gaza after more than a month of disappearing.

McGurk reiterated the US administration’s belief that the war in Gaza could end immediately if Sinwar agreed to release the remaining 101 hostages he is holding in Gaza.

After Yahya Sinwar, the man responsible for the October 7 attacks in Israel, took full control of Hamas over the summer following the assassination of Ismail Haniya, Arab intelligence officials say he sent a directive to a senior official: Now is the time for the revival of suicide bombings. A few days later, a bespectacled Palestinian man entered Tel Aviv with a blue backpack full of explosives. Although the bomb detonated before the man reached his target, killing only him, the attack sent an unmistakable message in all directions, the Wall Street Journal reports.