The Israeli government is facing renewed pressure from the Biden administration and families of the remaining captives in Gaza to finally secure a long-awaited hostage deal, after the military confirmed Thursday that soldiers assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The Israeli military confirmed Sinwar’s death after soldiers said they found a similar-looking body in rubble following a Wednesday battle in Rafah with Palestinian militants. Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Sinwar’s killing a “military and moral achievement for the Israeli army,” while Hamas has not yet commented on the development.
Sinwar has been a major target for Israel and its biggest ally, the United States, after the leader helped orchestrate the attack on southern Israel more than a year ago that killed about 1,200 people and captured around 250. There are an estimated 101 hostages that remain in captivity, including seven Americans.
“This is a good day for Israel, for the United States and for the world,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Thursday that included praise for the U.S. intelligence community’s assistance in helping Israel track down Hamas leaders.
Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris called on the Israeli government to now prioritize bringing home the remaining hostages, about a third of whom are already presumed dead. The Israeli military maintained there were no hostages in the area where soldiers found Sinwar.
The president said he plans to speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about reviving talks “for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike” — referring to negotiations on a cease-fire deal in Gaza that have essentially come to a halt.
“This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza,” Harris said. “And it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self determination.”
Several of Israel’s top leaders said that the government must now bring back the hostages, though some statements did not mention doing so via a cease-fire deal. Some hostage families echoed the Biden administration in saying that the Israeli government must use the leverage from Sinwar’s assassination to secure a deal, which they have long said is the only way to bring their loved ones home alive.
“We are waiting to see how the dice will roll, what will be the result of the new gamble we are now in,” Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is still in captivity, said from an Israeli protest Thursday evening at the Begin Gate in Tel Aviv. “If this will promote any release of hostages, any kind of deal — or if this, as has happened previously, will end with the assassination [execution] of other hostages.”
Sinwar’s assassination could help Netanyahu win favor with the hostage families, who have become increasingly vocal about the government’s delay in bringing the captives home. Some families have accused Netanyahu of intentionally prolonging and expanding the war for political purposes, and the prime minister’s address after Sinwar’s death did not help combat those accusations.
“Our war has not yet ended,” Netanyahu said, also defending the spread of Israel’s military campaign into the occupied West Bank and Lebanon that the U.S. has largely armed and funded. The prime minister has repeatedly tanked possible hostage deals, and Haaretz reported earlier this week that the Israeli government is no longer looking to revive talks at all.
The remaining hostages are “out of time,” Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still in captivity, said in a video posted in response to Sinwar’s assassination.
“If Netanyahu does not leverage this momentum and does not place a new Israeli initiative on the table — even at the cost of ending the war — that means he’s decided to abandon my son Matan and the other hostages, with the goal of prolonging the war in order to fortify his reign,” she said.
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Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza, which began after last year’s Hamas attack, has killed more than 42,000 people, according to local health officials (medical workers and aid groups estimate the number to be significantly higher). The offensive has led to a humanitarian crisis due to the intentional blocking of aid deliveries.
“There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power,” Biden said. But instead of Palestinian self-determination, multiple Israeli officials said on Thursday that the military will remain in Gaza.
Israeli politician Benny Gantz said that the military “will have to continue operating in Gaza for years,” while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel will continue to “pursue and eliminate” its enemies. Netanyahu said that Israel must keep long-term control over Gaza, which suggests that the fighting will only continue.
The Biden administration has not commented on the Israeli military’s intent to occupy Gaza.
