Hamas mourns Sinwar, vows no hostage launch till battle ends

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JERUSALEM: Hamas vowed on Friday it could not launch the hostages it seized throughout its Oct 7 assault on Israel till the Gaza battle ends, because it mourned the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

“We mourn the great leader, the martyred brother, Yahya Sinwar, Abu Ibrahim,” Qatar-based Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya stated in a recorded video assertion.

The hostages “will not return … unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops, there is a complete withdrawal from it, and our heroic prisoners are released from the occupation’s prisons,” he added.

Hamas’s affirmation of the dying of Sinwar, the mastermind of the deadliest assault in Israeli historical past, got here a day after Israel dealt an enormous blow to the group with the announcement of his dying.

Hamas sparked the year-long battle in Gaza by staging the deadliest-ever assault on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, ensuing within the deaths of 1,206 individuals, largely civilians, in keeping with an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

During the assault, militants took 251 individuals hostage again into Gaza. Ninety-seven stay there, together with 34 who Israeli officers say are lifeless.

Chief of Hamas in Gaza on the time of the assault, Sinwar grew to become the militant group’s general chief after the killing in July of its political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to as Sinwar’s killing an “important landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamas”, including that whereas it didn’t spell the top of the battle, it was “the beginning of the end”.

In Gaza, there was little hope Sinwar’s killing would convey an finish to the battle.

“We always thought that when this moment arrived the war would end and our lives would return to normal,” Jemaa Abou Mendi, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, informed AFP.

“But unfortunately, the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. The war has not stopped, and the killings continue unabated.”

AIR STRIKES

Israel performed air strikes on Gaza on Friday, with a number of raids in a single day and early morning pummelling the territory, in keeping with an AFP journalist on the bottom.

According to Gaza’s civil defence company, rescuers recovered the our bodies of three Palestinian kids from the rubble of their dwelling within the north of the territory after it was hit at daybreak.

The Israeli navy stated it was urgent its operation in Jabalia, one of many focuses of the combating in current weeks, and the place strikes on Thursday killed a minimum of 14 individuals, in keeping with two hospitals.

A UN-backed evaluation has discovered some 345,000 Gazans face “catastrophic” ranges of starvation this winter.

Israel’s marketing campaign to crush Hamas and convey again the hostages seized by militants has killed 42,500 individuals in Gaza, the bulk civilians, in keeping with information from the well being ministry within the Hamas-run territory, figures which the UN considers dependable.

With the civilian toll in Gaza mounting, Israel has confronted criticism over its conduct of the battle, together with from the United States.

Israeli navy chief Herzi Halevi vowed to maintain combating “until we capture all the terrorists involved in the Oct 7 massacre and bring all the hostages home”.

“OPPORTUNITY”

Some Israelis hailed the information of Sinwar’s dying as an indication of higher issues to come back.

Attending a Tel Aviv rally demanding the hostages’ launch, 60-year-old Sisil, who gave solely her first title, stated his killing introduced a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for “a hostage deal to end the war”.

US President Joe Biden, whose authorities is Israel’s prime arms supplier, stated Sinwar’s dying was a “moment of justice” and “an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas”.

Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged the Israeli authorities and worldwide mediators to leverage “this major achievement to secure hostages’ return”.

According to a press release from Netanyahu’s workplace, Biden referred to as to congratulate him on Sinwar’s killing, with the 2 leaders vowing to grab “an opportunity to promote the release of the hostages”.

SUCCESSOR?

With Hamas already weakened greater than a yr into the Gaza battle, Sinwar’s dying offers an immense blow to the organisation, however whether or not it can set off a shift in its personal technique is unclear.

It can also be unclear whether or not his successor might be named in Qatar, the place Hamas’s political management has lengthy been primarily based, or in Gaza, the main focus of the combating.

The Israeli navy stated Sinwar was killed in a firefight in southern Gaza’s Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, whereas being tracked by a drone.

It launched drone footage of what it stated was Sinwar’s ultimate moments, with the video displaying a wounded militant throwing an object on the drone.

Israel can also be combating a battle in Lebanon, the place Hamas ally Hezbollah opened a entrance by launching cross-border strikes that pressured tens of hundreds of Israelis to flee their houses.

Hezbollah stated Thursday it was launching a brand new part in its battle towards Israel, and that it had used precision-guided missiles towards troops for the primary time.

The battle since late September has left a minimum of 1,418 individuals lifeless in Lebanon, in keeping with an AFP tally of Lebanese well being ministry figures, although the true toll is probably going increased.

The Israeli navy has introduced the deaths of 19 troopers in fight in southern Lebanon.

The battle has additionally drawn in different Iran-aligned armed teams, together with in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

Iran on Oct 1 performed a missile strike on Israel, for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday stated Sinwar will stay an inspiration for militants combating Israel throughout the area.

“His fate – beautifully pictured in his last image – is not a deterrent but a source of inspiration for resistance fighters across the region, Palestinian and non-Palestinian,” Araghchi stated on X.

Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels each mourned the dying of Sinwar, vowing continued assist for his or her Palestinian ally Hamas.

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