“A good day for Israel, the United States and the world,” said US President Joe Biden, commenting on the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Tel Sultan neighborhood, located in the city of Rafah.
“Shortly after the October 7 massacres, I directed special operations personnel and our intelligence professionals to work side-by-side with their Israeli counterparts to help locate and track down Sinwar and other Hamas leaders who were hiding in Gaza,” Biden said.
“With the help of our intelligence services, the Israeli army relentlessly pursued Hamas leaders, bringing them out of hiding and forcing them to flee,” he continued.
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“There has rarely been a military campaign like this,” Biden said, highlighting how Hamas operated through hundreds of miles of tunnels, operating under and around Gaza’s suffering civilians. “Today, however, proves once again that no terrorist anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes. »
“For my Israeli friends, this is undoubtedly a day of relief and reminiscence, similar to the scenes seen across the United States after President Obama ordered the raid to kill Osama bin Laden in 2011.”
“Israel has the right to eliminate the leadership and military structure of Hamas,” Biden said.
He reiterated the conclusion he reached in May that Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another attack like the one it carried out on October 7. This argument has been used in the past to urge Israel to work to end the war in Gaza.
Biden said he would soon speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders “to congratulate them, to discuss the path forward to return the hostages to their families and to end this war once and for all who caused so much devastation to innocent people.”
“It is now possible to envisage a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, as well as a political settlement offering a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Joe Biden said in a statement. “Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all these goals. This obstacle no longer exists. But we still have a lot of work to do.”
The death of the Hamas leader offers “the opportunity” to “end” the war in Gaza, Kamala Harris, Democratic candidate for the White House, also said on Thursday.
“This war must end so that Israel is safe, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can exercise their rights to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.” , declared the American vice-president from Milwaukee, in the American state of Wisconsin.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a telephone conversation earlier in the day with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the latter’s office said.
The Qatari statement said the two men discussed the latest developments in Gaza. The statement was issued following Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Blinken also said the Hamas leader had repeatedly rebuffed efforts by hostage deal mediators to secure an agreement to release the hostages and end the war. The United States will redouble its efforts to this end in the coming days in order to “chart a new path that will allow the people of Gaza to rebuild their lives and realize their aspirations without war and without the brutal influence of Hamas,” he said. Blinken added in a statement.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a telephone conversation with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss Israel’s assassination of the Hamas leader, the Pentagon said. Austin “expressed strong support for the immediate release of all remaining hostages and a cease-fire in Gaza,” the US statement said.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the slain Hamas leader “poses a major obstacle to peace”. “Now that this obstacle has been removed, President Biden looks forward to discussing with Prime Minister Netanyahu how we can secure the return of the hostages and end the war,” he said.
Germany called on Hamas to “immediately release all hostages and lay down their arms” after the death of its leader, a “cruel assassin”, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reacted on Thursday.
“Sinwar was a cruel assassin and terrorist who wanted to destroy Israel and its people. As the instigator of the terror of October 7, he caused the death of thousands of people and immeasurable suffering for an entire region,” recalled the head of German diplomacy in a press release, adding: “the suffering of the population of Gaza must finally stop.”
“It appears that the Hamas military leader was killed and I think from that point of view, Israel may have been carrying out self-defense against the Hamas terrorists. I hope that the disappearance of the Hamas leader will lead to a ceasefire in Gaza,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.
“I for one will not mourn the death of a terrorist leader like Sinwar, someone who was responsible for the October 7 terrorist attack, and I am aware, like the British government, that this triggered not only the darkest and deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Second World War, but also in over a year of conflict and an intolerable level of Palestinian civilian casualties,” said British Defense Secretary John Healey.
France demands the release of “all hostages still held by Hamas,” commented French President Emmanuel Macron, whose recent outings have caused strong tensions with Jerusalem. “Yahya Sinouar was the main person responsible for the terrorist attacks and barbaric acts of October 7,” he wrote on X. “On this day, I think with emotion of the victims, including 48 of our compatriots, and their loved ones. France demands the release of all hostages still held by Hamas.”
For his part, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot considered that the elimination of Sinwar was both “a fatal blow to Hamas” and “a page which is turning and which must be turned in the war of Gaza.” “It is a page that must be turned for the region on its journey towards peace,” he declared on the French channel LCI, stressing that the occasion was “unique because Yahya Sinwar constituted an obstacle towards peace “.
