Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war in Gaza was “not over” after the alleged assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, even as Western leaders expressed hope that his death would be an opportunity to end end to a conflict that has lasted for a year.
“Today, evil has suffered a severe blow, but the task before us is not yet finished,” Netanyahu said in a recorded speech Thursday.
Netanyahu’s sentiments were echoed by other prominent Israeli politicians, including Benny Gantz, the leader of the center-right National Unity party.
Gantz, who resigned from Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet in June over disagreements over the prime minister’s handling of the war, said “the mission is not finished” and that Israeli forces would operate at Gaza for “the years to come.”
Israeli military leader Herzi Halevi said that even though his forces had settled “their scores” with Sinwar, his forces would continue to fight “until we capture all the terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre and bring back all the hostages at home.
The Israeli military said it killed Sinwar, accused by Israeli authorities of orchestrating the October 7 Hamas attacks, during a firefight Wednesday in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Hamas has neither confirmed nor commented on Sinwar’s alleged death.
The remarks by top Israeli leaders appeared to have dimmed Western leaders’ hopes that Sinwar’s alleged disappearance would hasten the end of the war.
US President Joe Biden, whose administration is Israel’s biggest political backer and arms supplier, said the Palestinian leader’s alleged death was an opportunity for a “Gaza tomorrow” and a political settlement that offers a “better future for Israelis and Palestinians”. even”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held separate phone calls with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Qatar about Sinwar’s alleged death and “efforts to end the conflict and secure the release of the hostages” , said the US State Department.
Speaking on the campaign trail, US Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris said an opportunity had come to “finally end the war in Gaza”.
“And it must end in such a way that Israel is safe, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” Harris said on the sidelines of a campaign. event in Wisconsin.
“And it is time for the next day to begin without Hamas in power. »
In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron called Sinwar’s alleged death a “turning point.”
“We must seize this opportunity to obtain the release of all the hostages and finally put an end to the war,” Macron told reporters after negotiations at the European Union summit in Brussels.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also expressed hope that the alleged disappearance of Hamas’s top leader would lead to a ceasefire.
While Netanyahu warned that the war was not over in his speech, he also suggested that Sinwar’s alleged killing had brought the end of the conflict closer.
“Although this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it is the beginning of the end,” he said.
“To the people of Gaza, I have a simple message: this war can end tomorrow,” he added.
“This can end if Hamas lays down its arms and returns our hostages. »
Daniel Levy, president of the US/Middle East Project and a former Israeli government adviser, said, however, that killing Sinwar would not end Palestinian resistance in Gaza.
“He’s like Osama bin Laden – that’s what the American president said. You kill a terrorist and everything is fine forever. But this is a resistance movement rooted in its people because they are oppressed and disenfranchised,” Levy told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“This will continue and people will look at this and see someone, I guess, who is a martyr who brings more shine to this cause of the Palestinians,” he added.
At least 42,409 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the enclave’s health ministry.
More than 1,130 people were killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7, according to Israeli authorities.
Among the more than 250 people captured by Hamas on October 7, 101 are still missing, according to Israeli figures, at least half of whom, according to Israeli authorities, are still alive.
