Hamas confirms killing of leader Yahya Sinwar

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in combat, Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy Gaza Hamas chief and the group's chief negotiator, said on Friday.

Sinwar's death, which follows Israeli assassinations of other Hamas leaders and commanders, will deal a huge blow to the group which has faced relentless air strikes since it attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

It also dragged about 250 people back to Gaza, creating a hostage crisis for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government which has vowed to eliminate Hamas.

Sinwar was named the group's paramount leader on August 6, as a successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran on July 31.

Widely known as the architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, Sinwar has been in Gaza, defying Israeli attempts to kill him since the start of the war.

Born in a refugee camp in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Sinwar, 62, was elected as Hamas' leader in Gaza in 2017.

The controversial leader, who spent half his adult life in Israeli prisons, was the most powerful Hamas leader left alive following the assassination of Haniyeh.

War far from over, says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – long a major objective of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – would signal the “beginning of the end” of the war. But he made clear the war is not over.

Sinwar was killed during an operation by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday, a pivotal event in the year-long conflict.

Western leaders said his death offered an opportunity for the war to end, but Netanyahu said it would go on until the hostages seized by Hamas militants were returned.

"Today we have settled the score. Today evil has been dealt a blow but our task has still not been completed," Netanyahu said in a recorded video statement after the death was confirmed on Thursday.

"To the dear hostage families, I say: This is an important moment in the war. We will continue full force until all your loved ones, our loved ones, are home."

In fact, Benny Gantz, a former defence minister and member of the war cabinet, said the IDF would continue to operate in Gaza “for years to come”.

Sinwar, who was named as Hamas' overall leader following the assassination of political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, was believed to have been hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.

He was killed during a gun battle in southern Gaza on Wednesday by Israeli troops who were initially unaware that they had caught their country's number one enemy, Israeli officials said. The military released drone video of what it said was Sinwar, sitting on an armchair and covered in dust inside a destroyed building.

Hamas has not made any comment itself, but sources within the group have said the indications they have seen suggest Sinwar was indeed killed by Israeli troops.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it was moving to a new and escalating phase in its war against Israel while Iran said "the spirit of resistance will be strengthened" after Sinwar's killing.

'Chief obstacle'

Despite Western hopes of a ceasefire, Sinwar's death could dial up hostilities in the Middle East where the prospect of an even wider conflict has grown.

Israel has launched a ground campaign in Lebanon over the past month and is now planning a response to an Oct. 1 missile attack carried out by Iran, ally of Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

But the demise of the man who planned the attack last year could also help push forward stalled efforts to end the war in which Israel has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who spoke to Netanyahu by phone to congratulate him, said Sinwar's death provided a chance for the war in Gaza to finally end and for Israeli hostages to be brought home.

The U.S. wants to kick-start talks on a proposal to achieve a ceasefire and secure the release of hostages, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, calling Sinwar the "chief obstacle" to ending the war.

"That obstacle has obviously been removed. Can’t predict that that means whoever replaces (Sinwar) will agree to a ceasefire, but it does remove what has been in recent months the chief obstacle to getting one," he said. In recent weeks, Sinwar had refused to negotiate at all, Miller said.

Kamala Harris at a campaign event in Wisconsin said this offers “an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza," adding that the war “must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”

Iran indicated no sign the killing would shift its support. "The spirit of resistance will be strengthened" following the death of Sinwar, its mission to the United Nations said.

Hezbollah was also defiant, announcing "the transition to a new and escalating phase in the confrontation with Israel".

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held separate phone calls on Thursday with leaders in Saudi Arabia and Qatar aimed at ending the war in the Middle East, the State Department said.

According to the BBC, French President Emmanuel Macron described Sinwar's killing as “a turning point as well as a military success for Israel”, stating that it was now necessary to "end military operations".

He says: “This opportunity must be seized to secure the release of all hostages and for an end to finally be brought to the war."

“Now, after this result, accept the ceasefire in Gaza and finally open a credible political perspective for both Israelis and Palestinians."

No comfort, no compromise

In Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a displaced Palestinian named Thabet Amour told Reuters the Palestinian fight would continue.

"This is resistance that does not disappear when men disappear," he said. "The assassination of Sinwar will not lead to the end of the resistance or to a compromise or surrender and raising the white flag."

Families of Israeli hostages said that while the killing of Sinwar was a significant achievement, it would not be complete while hostages are still in Gaza.

Avi Marciano, the father of Noa Marciano, who was killed in captivity by Hamas, told Israeli broadcaster KAN that "the monster, the one who took her from me, who had the blood of all our daughters on his hands, finally met the gates of hell."

"A little justice, but no comfort," he said. "There will be comfort only when Naama, Liri, Agam, Daniela and Karina, our girls' friends, return home."

According to the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry, more than 42,400 people have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war.

More than 1,130 people were killed in October 7 attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

(With additional reporting from other sources)