Despite international demands for an immediate ceasefire, Hamas has accepted the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, but has pledged to continue fighting. From exile in Qatar, Sinwar’s deputy, Khalil al-Hayya, declared, “We are continuing Hamas’s path,” and he added that the deceased leader’s demands for a ceasefire will not be altered.
Although Hayya maintained that Hamas will come out stronger than before despite the loss of its leader, the majority of analysts believe that Sinwar’s murder dealt the movement a serious setback, at least initially.
There was no indication that Benjamin Netanyahu would suddenly agree to the terms he had rejected during Sinwar’s lifetime. As an important milestone in the collapse of the leadership of Hamas, the Israeli prime minister instead emphasized the extent to which the assassination of the fugitive leader hurt his organization.
In the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday, Sinwar and two of his bodyguards were accidentally discovered by an Israeli patrol, which resulted in their deaths. The captives “will not return unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops,” Hayya said.
Joe Biden had stated that Sinwar’s passing “represents a moment of justice” just hours earlier on Friday, citing the fact that the Hamas commander “had the blood of Americans and Israelis, Palestinians and Germans and so many others on his hands.”
The US president said that he had urged Netanyahu to “make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas” on Thursday, following the confirmation of Sinwar’s death.
In the past, Netanyahu has faced tremendous international pressure during the year-long conflict in Gaza, but this pressure has not been supported by significant dangers to his nation’s ability to import weapons. The far-right element of his coalition, which is crucial to his political survival, has put further pressure on the Israeli prime leader, who has been exhorted to keep fighting.
A picture purportedly showing the West Bank cabinet of the Palestinian Authority praying for Sinwar was posted on X on Friday by three of Netanyahu’s ministers, including the far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. In reality, the shot was taken at a conference in 2022.
Following Sinwar’s death, peace in Lebanon appeared to be just as elusive. Hezbollah who increased its strikes on northern Israel in October of last year in support of Hamas, declared on Friday that it was “entering a new phase” in its conflict with Israeli soldiers.
