US Support Has Assured Israel That It Can Kill With Impunity
JacobinOCT 12 2024
The Israeli military said on Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces in Rafah on Wednesday. Israeli forces reportedly saw a group of gunmen enter a building, calling in a strike. After assessing the aftermath, a body resembling Sinwar was found.
A DNA sample was taken to confirm that the body is Sinwar. Media reports in the past indicated that Sinwar was surrounded by Israeli hostages, but the Israeli army noted that no hostages were in the area. Hamas has not yet commented on the news.A DNA sample was taken to confirm that the body was Sinwar. Media reports in the past indicated that Sinwar was among Israeli hostages, but the Israeli army noted that no hostages were in the area. Hamas has not yet commented on the news.
The families of those still held captive in Gaza welcomed the news that Sinwar had been killed but urged the government to leverage "this major achievement into an immediate deal to secure hostages’ return."The families of those still held captive in Gaza welcomed the news but urged the government to leverage this development to reach "an immediate deal to secure hostages’ return."
Sinwar's death will be a good opportunity to restart negotiations and work toward a cease-fire that ends this war. US officials have spent months frustrated with the lack of progress in Doha and Cairo, but now, though things are still uncertain, there is a real changechance that peace can come at last.
The world will be a better place without Yahya Sinwar in it. Though his death may not lead to Hamas' collapse or the end of this war, the primary mastermind behind the group's Oct. 7 massacres is gone. Justice has been served.
Sinwar's life and death demonstratesdemonstrate why his reported killing will not be the end of Palestinian resistance. Born in one of Gaza's dense refugee camps to a family ethnically cleansed from what is now AshkhelonAshkelon, Sinwar dedicated his life to fighting Israel. Israel's war on Gaza has likely created a thousand Yahya Sinwars.