JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Pledges from Israel and its enemies Hamas and Hezbollah to keep fighting in Gaza and Lebanon dashed hopes on Friday that the death of Palestinian militant chief Yahya Sinwar might hasten an end to more than a year of escalating war in West Asia. Israel’s arch-foe and the militants’ main backer Iran also said Sinwar’s death would only fuel “the spirit of resistance”.
Hamas chief Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, was killed by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called his killing a milestone but vowed to keep up the war, which in recent weeks expanded from fighting Hamas in Gaza into an invasion and pursuit of Hezbollah of Lebanon. “The war, my dear ones, is not yet over,” Netanyahu told Israelis late on Thursday, saying fighting would continue until hostages held by Hamas are released. “We have before us a great opportunity to stop the axis of evil,” he added, referring to Iran and its militant allies across the region, also in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Hamas said hostages would only be released with a halt of hostilities in Gaza, an Israeli withdrawal and the release of its prisoners. “The martyrdom of our brother, the leader Yahya Sinwar … will only increase the strength and resolve of Hamas and our resistance,” it said, confirming his death in combat.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group also said Friday that it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops, adding that it has introduced new weapons over the past days. A statement from the group’s operations room early Friday says Hezbollah’s fighters have used new types of precision-guided missiles and explosive drones for the first time.
That rhetoric from the warring parties contrasted with Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, who said Sinwar’s death offered a chance for negotiations.
Biden on Friday called the death of Sinwar “a moment of justice” and said he hoped it would present “an opportunity to seek a path to peace – a better future in Gaza without Hamas.” On Thursday, hours after Israel said its forces had killed Sinwar, Biden said he had told Netanyahu that secretary of state Antony Blinken would go to Israel in the coming days to discuss securing Gaza and planning for governing and rebuilding the territory after the war. “Now is the time to move on,” Biden said, adding that he had congratulated the Israeli PM on Sinwar’s killing. The US prez, however, added that he believed there was a possibility of working towards a ceasefire in Lebanon but that such efforts would be harder in Gaza. A statement from Netanyahu’s office about Biden’s call said both had agreed there was an “opportunity to advance the release of the hostages”, and that they would work to achieve that.
US state department spokesman Matthew Miller said Sinwar had been refusing talks. “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. Sinwar’s logical successor as the head of Hamas’ political office would be his deputy Khalil al-Hayya, based in Qatar. Al-Hayya is a protege of slain Ismail Haniyeh, Sinwar’s predecessor.
