This is not the end of the Gaza War

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu the head of Hamas said he was killed Yahya Sinwar not the end of the war in Gaza.

According to him, Sinwar’s death movement was the starting point towards the end of the war.

“This is not the end of the war in Gaza. This is the beginning of the end,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera, Friday (18/10).

Netanyahu said that the war in Gaza could end at any time, even tomorrow as long as Hamas is willing to surrender and return all the enemies.

“This war can end tomorrow. It can end if Hamas lays down its arms and returns its hostages,” he said, speaking directly to the people of Gaza.

Israel claims that they guarantee the safety of everyone who returns the prisoners. However, Netanyahu vowed to hunt down and prosecute anyone who would arm themselves against Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz officially announced that the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, was killed in an attack in Gaza. Israel accused Yahya Sinwar of orchestrating the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

“The mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and the atrocities of October 7, was finished today by IDF (Israeli military) soldiers,” Katz said in an official statement, cited by Reuters , Friday (18/10).

So far, Hamas has not made an official comment regarding the information about the assassination of its leader.

Earlier, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on several areas in the Palestinian Gaza Strip on Thursday (17/10) targeting the political leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar.

The latest news from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) suggests that Yahya Sinwar may have been killed in one of the attacks. However, Israel did not specify the exact location of the alleged attack that killed Sinwar.

“Initial reports – during the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip, three terrorists were successfully executed. The IDF and the ISA are investigating the possibility that one of the terrorists was Yahya Sinwar,” read the IDF announcement as reported by the Jerusalem Post.

“At this stage, the identity of the terrorist cannot be confirmed,” the IDF statement said.

The IDF said one of the Israeli airstrikes hit a building where several terrorists were located. Israel claims there are no signs that its citizens are being held hostage by Hamas in the building and surrounding area.

“In the building where the terrorists are, there is no sign of the enemies around. The (Israeli) soldiers who are working in the area continue to do military work with care,” said the IDF.

According to leaks from Israeli officials to Axios, the attack that is believed to have killed Sinwar took place on Wednesday afternoon (16/10) in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

At that time, IDF soldiers were doing a routine patrol and suddenly encountered three armed men. A shootout immediately broke out between the IDF soldiers and the three gunmen until they were finally killed.

Israeli officials said IDF soldiers saw the face of one of the slain militiamen as Yahya Sinwar. However, his identity could not be immediately confirmed.

Yahya Sinwar was appointed as the political leader of Hamas after the death of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh in late July.

Haniyeh was killed in an air strike while he was in Tehran, Iran, to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeskhian.

Iran believes the attack was orchestrated by Israel, although Tel Aviv continues to deny that.

Meanwhile, before replacing Haniyeh, Sinwar was the head of Hamas in Gaza.

Compared to Haniyeh, Sinwar is a Hamas leader who is known to be tougher and harsher in his view of Israel. Sinwar, on the other hand, was the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

This attack triggered Israel’s brutal attack against the Gaza Strip and even Palestine as a whole to this day and has killed more than 42 thousand Palestinians.

(company)

[Gambas:Video CNN]