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On Thursday, Israel announced the death of Yahya Sinwar, a leader of Hamas and the planner behind the October 7 attack from the previous year, which led to the most lethal conflict in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. Sinwar’s demise is seen as a crucial event in the ongoing conflict, marking a significant setback for the Palestinian militant organization and representing a symbolic triumph for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that Sinwar was killed by soldiers from its southern command in the Gaza Strip’s southern area on Wednesday, though no further details were disclosed. Hamas did not immediately acknowledge Sinwar’s death.
Netanyahu described Sinwar’s death as a “victory of good over evil” and suggested it marked the beginning of the end of Hamas’s rule in Gaza. He further stated that militants still holding Israeli hostages in Gaza now have a chance to release them, potentially leading to their own survival. Netanyahu articulated that the return of hostages would facilitate the achievement of broader goals and could hasten the war’s conclusion.
According to a western official, diplomats have initiated discussions with Netanyahu’s administration about offering Hamas a two to three-day pause in Israel’s military operations in exchange for releasing the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza. This proposed deal would also include a commitment to ensure the safety of Hamas fighters who release hostages and resume diplomatic negotiations in Cairo aimed at ending the conflict.
A source familiar with the discussions indicated that Israel’s hostage negotiators were conducting urgent talks on how Sinwar’s death could be utilized to secure the release of Israelis detained in Gaza.
Eliminating Sinwar was one of the objectives of the intense offensive on Gaza that Israel launched in response to Hamas’s assault on October 7, in which militants killed 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages, as per Israeli authorities. Despite this offensive, Sinwar, believed to be sheltering within Hamas’s extensive tunnel network, managed to evade capture for over a year, even as the Israeli military campaign resulted in the deaths of over 42,000 individuals in Gaza, according to Palestinian sources, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.
Sinwar assumed leadership of Hamas this summer after the former leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was reportedly killed by an Israeli operation in Tehran in July. The 61-year-old, also known as Abu Ibrahim, is widely credited with orchestrating Hamas’s attack in October last year alongside Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades. Much of Hamas’s senior military leadership in Gaza, including Deif, has been killed in Israeli air strikes over the past year.
Israeli officials had persistently stated their intention to target Sinwar, describing him as a “dead man walking.” On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant emphasized that Sinwar’s death conveyed a “clear message to all of our enemies,” affirming that the IDF would pursue anyone seeking to harm Israeli citizens or security forces and ensure their accountability.
Originally from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Sinwar played a crucial role in establishing the Qassam Brigades in the 1980s. He spent nearly twenty years in an Israeli prison before being released in a 2011 prisoner swap involving an Israeli soldier. After returning to Gaza, Sinwar rapidly ascended within Hamas, becoming a central figure linking its political and military divisions and ultimately taking command of the entire territory.
Despite Sinwar’s influence, some residents of Gaza, heavily affected by the ongoing conflict, expressed mixed emotions regarding his death. Mohammad Nafiz, a 28-year-old resident of Khan Younis, reflected on the situation, stating, “I thought I would feel happy if Sinwar was killed,” but instead, he said it felt “mixed and weird,” adding that unless Sinwar’s death leads to an end to the war, it offers little reason for celebration.
