Hamas: Hostages Will Only Be Released After Israel Withdraws
The Facts
Top Hamas official Khalil Hayya confirmed on Friday that the group's leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces. Hayya continued that Hamas will only release the hostages after Israel ends its attacks on Gaza and withdraws from the strip.
Meanwhile, fighting in and around Jabalia and its refugee camp in northern Gaza continued on Friday with Israel sending additional troops to the area. Residents said that Israeli tanks reached the center of the camp and reported heavy bombardment. Israel said the operation aimed to prevent Hamas from regrouping in the area.
The Spin
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 change that peace can come at last.
Though Yahya Sinwar and other terrorist leaders are now dead, Israel must still think carefully about how to proceed. Though the primary mastermind behind Hamas' Oct. 7 massacres is gone, Israel is still facing terrorist threats on every front. Israel is winning, but the war is not over quite yet.
Israel's true goal in northern Gaza is to starve and exterminate the civilian population so that the region is never inhabited by Palestinians again. Israeli politicians and military officials have been quite clear about the country's genocidal goals, yet the media continues to ignore their horrifying ambitions. This is a campaign of mass extermination that has received the full backing of the US.
