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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was “finished with him,” but stressed that “the task before us (Israel) is not yet complete.” did.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel’s focus was on securing the return of the approximately 100 hostages captured in the brutal Hamas attack on October 7 last year and who remain in Gaza, including a third of 1 is believed to be dead.
“This is a critical moment in the war,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of the hostages, according to Reuters. “We will continue to work as hard as we can until all of your loved ones come home, and until all of our loved ones come home. This is our greatest duty. This is my greatest duty. .”
President Biden said Sinwar’s death was good news “for Israel, for the United States and for the world” after nearly 20 years of Hamas rule in Gaza. He, along with other senior U.S. officials, said the move should bring new hope to the ceasefire in the year-long war.
Speaking in Germany on Friday, Mr. Biden said he had told Prime Minister Netanyahu that Mr. Sinwar had blood on his hands, adding: “Let’s use this moment as an opportunity for peace.”
What Yahya Sinwar’s death means for the Israel-Hamas war 01:53
However, Hamas made no mention of renewing its push for a ceasefire agreement with Israel following the killing of its leader.
Dr. Bassem Naim, a member of the political bureau of the US and Israeli designated terrorist organization, said in a statement Friday that “Israel appears to believe that the killing of its leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people.” said. “They can believe what they want, and this isn’t the first time they’ve said that.”
“Hamas has grown stronger and more popular with each passing cycle, and these leaders have become symbols for future generations who will continue their journey towards a free Palestine,” Naim said.
File photo shows Yahya Sinwar.
The killing of Shinwar, who had been Hamas’s top commander in the Gaza Strip since 2017 and the group’s overall leader since August, was a major blow to Hamas. Ismael al-Sawarta, a senior Hamas spokesman, told CBS News in Gaza on Thursday that his death “will complicate the situation because he was a key figure in the negotiations and the political leader of Hamas.” Ta.
But he added: “I don’t think his death will affect or change the war because the Palestinian resistance is not led by individuals, but is an organization.”
Hamas deputy leader Khalil al-Khayya acknowledged Sinwar’s death in a televised address on Friday, saying Hamas would continue on the same path. Al-Haya said Hamas would not release the remaining hostages without a cease-fire agreement and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
More Israeli, Lebanese hospitals treating Hezbollah conflict victims 08:02
All three Hamas officials noted that the group continues to fight Israel after the assassination of former political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in late July. Israel has killed numerous leaders of both Hamas and its powerful ally Hezbollah in Lebanon in recent months, but continues to fight both sides in the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians. Dead.
Many Israelis rejoiced at Shinwar’s death, singing and dancing on the beach and outside the institute where his body was found on Thursday.
People hold placards celebrating the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Jerusalem, October 17, 2024. MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty
But not everyone was celebrating, and many do not seem to share the hope that his killing may mark a turning point for the war and for missing loved ones.
At a rally in front of the Ministry of Defense for hostages still being held in Gaza, family members and supporters told CBS News that Hamas militants may kill those who have survived more than a year in captivity. He said he was concerned that there might be.
Ariela, who attended the rally and gave only her first name, was unsure when asked whether she thought Israel was actually moving closer to peace after Sinwar’s killing, or if she thought it was moving further away.
“I don’t know. I would have liked to know,” she told CBS News. “I want peace to come. I really want them to come back. I want everything to be okay again.”
Among the hostages still in Gaza is Omer Neutra, a 23-year-old Israeli-American. Parents Orna and Ronen recently celebrated their son’s birthday, but this is their second birthday without him.
“I just can’t believe this is my second birthday in captivity,” Orna said. “We sincerely hope that this nightmare will finally end for us…We are still stuck since October 7th. It’s been a long and nightmarish day.”
Parents of American hostage killed in Gaza talk about son, other hostages, and grief 04:00
Israel immediately reacted to the Hamas terrorist attack by launching a war in Gaza that left 1,200 people dead and 251 hostages taken. The war has now left more than 42,400 Palestinians dead, almost 100,000 injured, and virtually all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people displaced, according to the Hamas-run enclave’s Health Ministry.
And despite Biden’s comments suggesting new opportunities to promote peace, Israeli forces continued to escalate operations in northern Gaza on Friday. The Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties, said on Friday that Israeli operations had killed 62 people and wounded 300 in the past 24 hours alone.
Palestinians in Gaza, who have lived under constant shelling for a year and been displaced multiple times, offered little optimism to CBS News.
“Nothing changes,” one woman said of Shinwar’s death. “Someone else will take his place. God willing, the war will end and we will go home.”
middle east crisis
Haley Ott
