Hamas leader's death creates opportunity for Gaza deal, Israeli and U.S. officials say
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People are reflected in a window displaying a poster of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Palestinian camp of Bourj al-Barajneh on Aug. 08, 2024 in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's death creates an opportunity to resume negotiations for a deal to release the 101 hostages still held by Hamas and establish a ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli and U.S. officials say.
Why it matters: Negotiations for a deal have been frozen for two months, in part because of Sinwar's hardline position and because he was incommunicado, Israeli and U.S. officials said.
- Sinwar's death is a huge blow to Hamas, which has lost most of its military and political leadership.
It also provides Netanyahu the "victory picture" he's been looking for since the Oct. 7 attacks and gives him political space — both with the Israeli public and inside his cabinet — to move toward a deal.
- Israeli officials said that, unlike Sinwar, other Hamas leaders and commanders might be more ready to surrender and even go into exile as part of a deal to end the war.
"To the Hamas terrorists I say — your leaders are running away and they will be eliminated. I call on everyone who holds our hostages: whoever lays down his arms and returns our hostages, we will allow him to leave and live," Netanyahu said in a statement on Thursday.
- Netanyahu said Sinwar's death is the beginning of the "day after" in Gaza without Hamas and that the group will not control Gaza anymore.
- "The return of our hostages is an opportunity to achieve all our goals and it brings the end of the war closer," he said.
Driving the news: Sinwar was killed on Wednesday by Israeli forces in a house in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
- An infantry unit of 19-year old soldiers who were on routine patrol in the area exchanged fire with three armed militants and killed them.
- It was a coincidental encounter that wasn't based on intelligence. The soldiers realized they might have killed the most wanted person in the Middle East only after looking at his body.
- Forensic tests, including a DNA test, later confirmed it was Sinwar.
Zoom in: It's unclear what Sinwar was doing in the house. Israeli and U.S. intelligence believed for a long time that he was hiding in tunnels deep underground in southern Gaza with hostages around him.
- But, Sinwar was in a house with two Hamas commanders and without any hostages.
The big picture: A Netanyahu aide and another Israeli official involved in the hostage deal negotiations said Sinwar's death opens a window of opportunity to get a deal for the release of the hostages in return for a ceasefire in Gaza and said there is a need to work fast to push for such a deal.
- "Prime Minister Netanyahu's focus right now is to return the hostages by any means. Sinwar's elimination creates a big opportunity to do that. Netanyahu wants to use this to resume negotiations on a deal," Netanyahu's aide said.
- White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said Sinwar's death creates an opportunity for reaching a hostage and ceasefire deal that the Biden administration wants to seize.
- There were moments when Sinwar "stood in the way of making progress towards a deal. There were other obstacles along the way but he was certainly a critical one. His removal from the battlefield does present an opportunity to get the hostages home and end the war," Sullivan said.
Yes, but: Some Israeli officials involved in the negotiations over the hostage and ceasefire deal said it is too soon to know if Sinwar's death will allow for a breakthrough in the short term.
- Israeli officials said Netanyahu and his advisers have already been in contact with the Biden administration and the Qatari and Egyptian mediators about the future of the deal.
- U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the Prime Minister of Qatar and discussed Sinwar's death and negotiations on the deal, the Qatari foreign ministry said.
The other side: Hamas confirmed Sinwar's death in a statement issued on Friday.
- Sinwar's deputy Khalil al-Haya said his death will only strengthen Hamas.
- He said Hamas will release the hostages only if the war stops, the IDF fully withdraws from Gaza and Palestinians being held in Israeli prisoners are released.
- Israeli officials said Israeli intelligence indicates the remaining Hamas commanders were in disarray after the news broke about Sinwar.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with Hamas' statement confirming Sinwar's death.
