Jerusalem. Israel announced this Thursday that it had “eliminated” Hamas leader <a href="http://www.world-today-news.com/also-tonight-attacks-on-tel-aviv-and-gaza-hit-home-hamas-leader/" title="Also tonight attacks on Tel Aviv and Gaza hit home Hamas leader”>Yahya Sinwar in an operation in Gaza, in what could be a decisive blow against the Islamist movement after more than a year of war in the Palestinian territory.
“Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, has been eliminated,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement sent to the media.
The army confirmed shortly after that “after a year-long search, yesterday (Wednesday), October 16, 2024, Israeli army soldiers eliminated Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Hamas terrorist organization during an operation in the southern Strip of Gaza”.
Hamas, in power in Gaza, did not confirm the death of its leader.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “evil suffered a severe blow” but that “the war is not over yet.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, for his part, urged action to free the hostages held in Gaza.
“Now, more than ever, we must act by all means possible to bring back the 101 hostages still being held in horrific conditions by Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” Herzog said.
Sinwar, a radical and shadowy figure, was considered one of the masterminds of the deadly attack launched on October 7, 2023 by Hamas in Israeli territory, which triggered the war in Gaza.
61 years old and head of the Palestinian Islamist movement in Gaza since 2017, he was named political head of Hamas at the beginning of August, after the death of Ismail Haniyeh, murdered in Tehran on July 31 in an attack attributed to Israel.
“A relief” for Israel
Sinwar, whose name appeared on the US list of “international terrorists”, was the target of several assassination attempts.
The Republican president of the United States House of Representatives applauded “the death” of the Hamas leader, whom he described as a “vile and disgusting person,” and considered it a “relief” for the people of Israel.
The announcement of his death comes weeks after Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in a bombing in Lebanon, where the Israeli army launched an air offensive on September 23 and was reinforced by ground operations a week later.
In recent months, other commanders of Hezbollah, a group supported by Iran, have been assassinated.
Israel said months ago that it had killed Mohammed Deif, the military chief of Hamas, although the Palestinian Islamist movement has not confirmed this.
Deif was accused of planning, along with Sinwar, the October 7 attack.
With Hamas greatly weakened more than a year after the start of the Gaza war, Sinwar’s death could deal a severe blow to the organization.
War on several fronts
The confirmation of Sinwar’s death comes in an explosive context in the Middle East, where Israel has several open fronts since the deadly Hamas attacks on October 7, when Islamist militants killed 1,206 people in Israeli territory, mostly civilians. , and captured 251 hostages.
At least 42,438 Palestinians died, mostly civilians, in the Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza, according to data from the territory’s Ministry of Health, considered reliable by the UN.
After those attacks, Netanyahu promised to crush Hamas and bring the hostages home.
Israel has since expanded the scope of its operations to Lebanon, where Hamas ally Hezbollah opened a front against it with attacks that forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes.
This Thursday, the Israeli army bombed the coastal city of Tyre, according to AFPTV images, after Israel issued a call to evacuate the area.
Shortly before, it bombed the Syrian city of Latakia, in an attack aimed at destroying a Hezbollah target.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, for its part, launched several attacks with B-2 bombers against underground weapons storage facilities in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels.
A “painful” attack
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, also warned on Thursday that his country will respond with a “painful” attack in the event of Israeli retaliation for the missiles launched on October 1 by Tehran.
In an unusual visit to Egypt, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi about the danger of a regional conflict.
Israeli forces have been carrying out bombing and ground operations in northern Gaza and the Jabaliya area for a week, where they claim that Hamas is trying to regroup its forces.
In addition to the harsh humanitarian conditions and the devastation of the territory, the war has drastically impacted the economy. Almost the entire population of Gaza “lives in poverty”, warned the International Labor Organization (ILO) in a report.
It’s a ‘chance to end’ the war in Gaza, says Kamala Harris
The vice president and Democratic candidate for the US presidency, Kamala Harris, affirmed this Thursday that the death of the head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, is an “opportunity to end” the war in Gaza.
This war “must end in such a way that Israel is safe, the hostages are freed and the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.” President Joe Biden, for his part, considered it a “good day” for Israel, the United States and the rest of the world.
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