Jerusalem: Hamas confirmed Friday that its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, and the militant group reiterated its stance that hostages taken from Israel a year ago will not be released until there is a ceasefire in Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Sinwar died “facing the occupation army until the last moment of his life,” said Khalil al-Hayya, who was Sinwar’s deputy in Qatar and represented Hamas during several rounds of ceasefire negotiations.
Hamas will not return any of the hostages, he said, “before the end of the aggression on Gaza and the withdrawal from Gaza.”
Hamas praised Sinwar in a statement, calling him a hero for “not retreating, brandishing his weapon, confronting and confronting the occupation army at the forefront of the ranks.”
The statement appeared to refer to a video circulated by the Israeli military of Sinwar’s apparent last moments in which a man sits in a chair in a badly damaged building, seriously injured and covered in dust. In the video, the man raises his hand and throws a stick at an approaching Israeli drone.
Sinwar’s killing, in what appeared to be a chance frontline encounter with Israeli troops on Wednesday, could change the dynamics of the Gaza war even as Israel continues its offensive against Hezbollah with ground troops in southern Lebanon and airstrikes. in other areas of the country. . Hezbollah has fired rockets into Israel almost every day since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, which praised Sinwar as a martyr who can inspire others to challenge Israel.
Israel is committed to politically destroying Hamas in Gaza, and killing Sinwar was a top military priority. Photographs apparently taken by Israeli troops at the scene showed the body of a man who appeared to be him, half buried in the rubble and with an open wound on his head.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He said in a speech announcing the assassination Thursday night that “our war is not over yet.”
But many, from the governments of Israel’s allies to the exhausted residents of Gaza, expressed hope that Sinwar’s death would pave the way for an end to the war.
In Israel, families of hostages still held in Gaza demanded that the Israeli government use Sinwar’s killing as a way to restart negotiations to bring their loved ones home. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza, at least 30 of whom Israel says are dead.
“We are at a turning point where the stated goals for the war with Gaza have been achieved, all but the release of the hostages,” Ronen Neutra, father of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, said in a video statement. “Sinwar, who was described as a major obstacle to a deal, is no longer alive.”
Netanyahu planned to call a special meeting on Friday to discuss the hostage negotiations, an Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations issued a statement honoring Sinwar, emphasizing that he died on the battlefield and not in hiding, unlike his former enemy Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006.
“When American forces dragged a disheveled Saddam Hussein out of an underground hole, he begged them not to kill him despite being armed. “Those who regarded Saddam as their model of resistance finally collapsed,” the statement said. “However, when Muslims admire martyr Sinwar standing on the battlefield, in combat attire and in the open, not in a hiding place, facing the enemy, the spirit of resistance will strengthen.”
More than a million people on both sides died during the brutal war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s, which began when Hussein launched an invasion of Iran.
In Lebanon, the militant group Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets at Israel since war broke out in Gaza in October last year, issued a statement early Friday saying its fighters have used new types of precision-guided missiles and drones. explosives against Israel for the first time in recent days.
Hezbollah’s statement appeared to refer to an explosives-laden drone that evaded Israel’s multi-layered air defense system and crashed into a dining hall at a military training camp deep inside Israel last Sunday, killing four soldiers and injuring dozens.
The group also announced earlier this week that it fired a new type of missile called Qader 2 toward the Tel Aviv suburbs.
The Israeli military said it would activate an additional reserve brigade in the north of its country to support troops fighting in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah said its fighters were working according to “pre-prepared plans” to fight invading Israeli troops in several parts of southern Lebanon. He also announced several missile and artillery attacks against Israeli forces operating in villages in the border area of southern Lebanon overnight and on Friday morning.
In one case, the group said it fired a strong barrage of missiles at Israeli soldiers who were trying to evacuate those wounded in an earlier attack. The group also said it had fired “large volleys of missiles” at a military barracks in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and in the Zvulun area north of Haifa.
Earlier this week, Hezbollah’s interim leader, Naim Kassem, warned that the group will continue to attack broader areas of Israel, which it has attacked with rockets almost every day since the deadly Hamas incursion last year.
As Israel battled militants in Lebanon and Gaza, its military said Friday that its forces had killed two militants who crossed into Israeli territory south of the Dead Sea from neighboring Jordan.
These types of infiltrations are relatively rare, especially as Israel has stepped up border security since the Hamas attack in October 2023.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants punched holes in Israel’s security fence and breached it, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 250. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. that do not distinguish combatants from civilians. The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.
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