The Israeli prime minister said the war was not over and that Israel still aimed to recover the hostages.
Lebanese Hezbollah announced this Friday, October 18 that it was opening a new phase of escalation in its confrontation with Israel while Iran declared that “the spirit of resistance (would) be strengthened” after the death of the Hamas leader , Yahya Sinouar.
Yahya Sinouar, considered the “mastermind” of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip, and since then become the leader of the Palestinian armed movement, was killed in the Palestinian enclave during of an Israeli army operation.
“Our task is not yet finished”
Western leaders said his death offered an opportunity to end the conflict, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war was not over and that Israel still aimed to recover the hostages.
“Today we have settled our scores. Today evil has been dealt a setback. But our task is not yet finished,” he said in a video message. “To the families of the victims, I say: this is an important moment in the war. We will continue to exercise full force until all your loved ones return home,” added the Israeli Prime Minister.
The Israeli army said it had killed Yahya Sinouar during an operation carried out on Wednesday in the south of the Gaza Strip, specifying that it had carried out the necessary checks. Earlier in the day, sources reported that the Israeli war cabinet had been informed of the “likely” death of the Hamas leader.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas. Sources within the group said initial evidence showed Yahya Sinouar had been killed in an Israeli army operation.
“Obstacle principal”
The death of Yahya Sinouar could, however, provoke an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, where the possibility of seeing the conflict spread is growing. Israel has launched ground operations in southern Lebanon and is preparing a response to the missile attack carried out on October 1 by Iran, an ally of Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.
The United States wants to launch negotiations on a proposal to reach a ceasefire agreement and secure the release of the hostages, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, describing Yahya Sinouar as “the main obstacle” to the end of the war. “This obstacle has obviously been removed. (I) cannot predict that the person who replaces (Yahya Sinouar) will accept a ceasefire, but it removes what has in recent months represented the main obstacle to achieving it” , he said.
According to Matthew Miller, Yahya Sinouar had refused any negotiations in recent weeks. Iran, however, has not shown that its support will change after the death of the leader of the Palestinian armed movement, “The spirit of resistance will be strengthened” after the death of Yahya Sinouar, said the Iranian mission to the United Nations.
Hezbollah, for its part, announced a “transition towards a new, more intensive phase in the confrontation with Israel”. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone Thursday with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to discuss ending the conflict in the Middle East, the Department of Defense said. State.
No comfort, no compromise
The families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip said that while the death of Yahya Sinouar was a significant step forward, it could nevertheless put their loved ones in danger.
Avi Marciano, the father of Noa Marciano, killed by Hamas while she was in captivity, told Israeli public broadcaster KAN that “the monster, the one who took her from me, who had the blood of all our daughters on hands, is finally at the gates of hell. “A little justice, but no comfort,” he said. “We will only have comfort when Naama, Liri, Agam, Daniela and Karina […] will come home.”
In Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thabet Amour, a displaced Palestinian, told Reuters the fighting would continue. “It’s a resistance that doesn’t go away when a man dies,” he said. “The assassination of (Yahya) Sinouar will not end the resistance, it will not bring compromise, nor capitulation, nor white flag.”
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