Yahya Sinwar: Israel announces death of Hamas leader who masterminded October 7 attacks

Israel on Thursday announced the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in an attack by its troops in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The Israeli attack ended the lives of two other militants of the Palestinian Islamic Organization.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sinwar’s death opened the possibility of ending the Iran-led “axis of evil” in the region, as well as the release of the 101 hostages still held by Hamas.

“We have a huge opportunity to stop the axis of evil and build a different future. A future of peace, a future of prosperity for the entire region,” he said in a televised speech.

He said, “Hamas will no longer rule Gaza. This is the beginning of the post-Hamas day.”

Shortly before Netanyahu’s speech, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Israeli soldiers had killed Sinwar.

“it is an important military and moral achievement A victory for Israel and the entire free world against the axis of evil of radical Islam led by Iran,” Katz said in a statement.

He said that “the elimination of Sinwar opens the possibility of the immediate release of the hostages and paves the way for a transition that will lead to a new reality in Gaza without Hamas and without Iranian control.”

Katz described the late Hamas leader as “The mastermind behind the massacre and atrocities”

61 year old Yahya Sinwar was Israel’s number one target in Gaza and was held responsible for organizing and directing attacks in which thousands of gunmen crossed the border from Gaza, killing 1,200 Israelis and abducting more than 250.

More than 42,000 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign against Gaza.

It took several hours to identify the body of the Hamas leader after photos were published of a man with apparently fatal injuries in the debris of a building following intense military activity this Thursday.

His death is considered a significant military success for Israel, which on July 31 ended the life of his predecessor, the then chairman of the Hamas political bureau. Ismail Haniya,

In his televised speech, Netanyahu said that Sinwar’s death showed that the Israel Defense Forces were right in their military campaign in Gaza and, in particular, stressed the need to be able to take action in Rafah.

“It is now clear to everyone in Israel and the world, why we insist on not ending the war, why we insist, despite all the pressure, on entering Rafah, the Hamas stronghold where Sinwar and many of the killers Were they hiding?” he said.

The president called on Israeli hostage-takers to release them and lay down their arms, and promised to allow them to “go away and live.”

He said, “The return of the hostages is an opportunity to achieve all our objectives and something that brings the end of the war closer.”

Sinwar, already the leader of Hamas in Gaza, also took over political leadership after Haniya’s death. the most powerful person in the organization Considered a terrorist by the United States, the European Union, and the international community.

After being released from Israeli prison in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange, he became a radical leader with considerable influence in Hamas.

it stood to be proponents of armed conflict Above diplomatic initiatives with Israel.

According to experts, Sinwar may have spent much of the war surrounded by a human shield of Israeli hostages in the tunnels beneath Gaza, especially after becoming the overall leader of Hamas after the assassination of Ismail Haniya.

However, according to reports from the Israel Defense Forces, no hostage found Near the place where he was murdered.

Experts believe that, although Sinwar’s death is a crushing blow to Hamas, the organization will continue to fight the war against Israel.

Israel, for its part, has so far insisted that it will not stop attacking until it achieves all of its war objectives, including Military and political destruction of Hamas And the return of the kidnapped hostages on October 7, 2023.

The White House announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas are still close to reaching a ceasefire agreement, despite growing fears of regional war in the wake of the July 31 assassination of Ismail Haniya in Tehran.

The biggest breakthrough for mediation efforts came in November 2023, when both sides agreed to a temporary four-day humanitarian ceasefire, which was extended for two more days.

It allowed the release of 50 women and minors under the age of 19 kidnapped by Hamas in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons.

Since then the war between the two sides has continued and no significant progress has been made towards peace talks.

Rushdi Abulouf, BBC Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

Sinwar’s disappearance from the Gaza landscape is the biggest strategic loss Hamas has ever suffered.

Anyone who has followed this man’s career since his release from Israeli prison in 2011 knows that he directed the organization’s political and military apparatus and controlled all centers of power.

It was he who appointed the head of the Hamas Governing Committee that runs Gaza and he appointed the leaders of the military wing of Hamas battalions, with the support of his brother Mohammed, who heads the organization’s most heavily armed battalions in the south of the Strip. Used to do.

Because of this, it will be difficult for Hamas to recover quickly from the continued setbacks it has suffered and find a solid replacement to fill the void left by Sinwar’s absence.

In the past, Hamas has been forced to hide the name of its overall leader for security reasons. This option was under consideration after the assassination of Ismail Haniya and can now be seriously considered again.

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