Israeli forces’ killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is a seismic event that could create a pathway to a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas is still holding about a hundred hostages whom it kidnapped over a year ago during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks that destabilized the region. Sinwar had been the obstacle blocking a ceasefire deal ending Israel’s war in Gaza in exchange for releasing those hostages, U.S. officials said last month.
“We’re calling on the Israeli government and the U.S. administration to act swiftly and do whatever is needed to reach a deal with the captors,” Orna and Ronen Neutra, the parents of hostage Omer Neutra, said in a statement, “We are at an inflection point where the goals set for the war with Gaza have been achieved, all but the release of the hostages.”
HAMAS LEADER YAHYA SINWAR IS DEAD: OCT. 7 MASTERMIND ‘ELIMINATED’ BY IDF
Sinwar’s death could be the catalyst behind the collapse of Hamas’s ongoing resistance to a ceasefire deal, though that’s not a guarantee.
“It’s a new day, that is clear,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son, Sagui, is among the American hostages. “With the announcement of his death, there would be opportunities that were not available until today to move in new directions and in terms of getting the hostages back and, of course, ending the suffering of the people of Gaza.”
He added, “It is incumbent on all governments concerned, which would be of course Israel, the U.S., and the other mediators, to use anything they have at their disposal to leverage the fighters of Hamas to seize the opportunity to end the madness.”
Without Sinwar at the helm, it’s unclear who exactly would lead Hamas’s negotiations. Sinwar had the final sign off on a deal, while Ismail Haniyeh had been the group’s primary external negotiator given he was based in Qatar, but Israel is believed to have assassinated him in Iran over the summer. Sinwar’s successor could opt to make a deal or continue his hardline position.
“No, I need to see action,” the elder Dekel-Chen told the Washington Examiner about whether he was more optimistic about the possibility of a hostage deal following Sinwar’s killing.
Neutra and Dekel-Chen are among seven Americans believed to be held by Hamas. The two of them and two others are believed to still be alive.
President Joe Biden said he would be speaking with Israeli leaders “to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all, which has caused so much devastation to innocent people,” while his national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters, “I think [Sinwar’s] removal from the battlefield does present an opportunity to find a way forward that gets the hostages home.”
The Biden administration has continued to pursue diplomatic opportunities to end the conflict and get a ceasefire deal accomplished with little to show for it since the conclusion of last year’s week-long ceasefire agreement in late November 2023. About 150 hostages were released during that time period and Hamas has not released any of the hostages since then.
“Sinwar’s fate was sealed on Oct. 7, after he orchestrated the worst single day murder of Jews since the Holocaust, so Israel was always going to ensure Sinwar met this fate,” Bradley Bowman, a director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Washington Examiner.
Bowman called Sinwar’s death “a significant blow against Hamas in a major psychological win for Israel,” but he sounded a note of caution.
“Every leader is replaceable to some degree — but some leaders are more important and more difficult to replace than others — and I would put Sinwar as among the more difficult to replace, but the mistake to avoid here is … to avoid the temptation to confuse the important killing of a terrorist leader with a defeat of a terrorist organization.”
Sinwar, the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 mass terrorist attack in Israel, was killed with two other Hamas militants on Wednesday in southern Gaza. He wasn’t targeted in a precise operation; rather he was incidentally killed as Israeli soldiers engaged with Hamas fighters.
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Israeli officials had vowed to kill or capture Sinwar, but he had eluded the much more powerful military for more than a year. They have also vowed to secure the release of the hostages but have prioritized destroying Hamas over getting a deal done.