Analysis: Sinwar’s final moments evoke uncomfortable parallels to Israel heroShira Pinson
Dramatic footage released by the Israeli military that purport to show Yahya Sinwar’s final moments will be etched in the Palestinian national memory for generations to come: the defiance of Sinwar, covered in dust and with his right arm appearing to have been blown off, yet still fighting.
It’s an image that brings to mind an uncomfortable comparison to Israel’s national hero Joseph Trumpeldor, the one-armed Zionist resistance fighter.
Still drone footage released yesterday, which NBC News has not been able to independently verify, shows what the IDF says is Yahya Sinwar’s last moments.Israel Defense Forces via AFP – Getty ImagesTrumpeldor has become a mythical figure, an icon of Zionism and heroic patriotism. He died more than a century ago in the 1920 battle for Tel-Hai, but his legacy lives on, inspiring generation after generation of kids-turned-soldiers. His famous last words were said to be, “It’s good to die for our country.”
The phrase is displayed in children’s classrooms in Israel, written in textbooks and recited on Memorial Day. Songs were written about his famous final words and fervent fighting spirit. Streets named after Trumpeldor can be found in cities across Israel, and a lion’s monument stands where Trumpeldor fell.
For many Israelis, though, it feels uncomfortable to draw a comparison between their iconic hero, the symbol of courageous Zionism, and Sinwar — the man who died trying to eradicate it.
Still, it’s not unreasonable to think that Sinwar’s fighting spirit in his last moments will leave a legacy inspiring generations to come — and the drone footage released by Israel showing it will likely serve as a digital monument to Palestinian resistance.
White House official warns that Hamas is still a threatReporting from Berlin, Germany
National security spokesperson John Kirby said Hamas is in a much weaker position than ever after the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar. Speaking to the press in Berlin, Kirby said this has created a unique opportunity to discuss a cease-fire and the return of hostages from Gaza.
“The military structure of Hamas has just been nearly decimated,” he said. “They are absolutely incapable, as you and I are speaking here today, of conducting another attack on the scale of Oct. 7.”
Still, Kirby warned, Hamas, while a “shadow of their former self,” could still be lethal and has enough capability left that it should not be underestimated.
“They still exist as a terrorist organization. They’re still in Gaza. They’re still holding hostages,” he said, adding that while there are no active negotiations taking place, this could change now.
“We have never stopped having conversations with our counterparts in Qatar and Egypt about the possibility of getting something started,” he said.
Israeli military releases further details on the operation that killed SinwarIn a briefing today, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani revealed further details about the operation that killed Yahya Sinwar.
While the search for Sinwar took a year, the battle began on Wednesday when IDF forces identified three suspects in Rafah. After an exchange of fire, Sinwar was wounded, Shoshani said.
Sinwar and the two others sought refuge in separate buildings. IDF forces engaged them, killed the two others, and later used a drone and a tank to demolish the third building where Sinwar was located, according to Shoshani.
Sinwar was identified through DNA, fingerprint, and dental tests. The area had been booby-trapped, slowing the process of retrieving his body, he said.
Fatah: Sinwar ended his life with ‘honorable heroism’Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah’s central committee, issued a statement following Hamas’ confirmation of Sinwar’s death. Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank, has long been a rival of Hamas, which pushed Fatah out of power in Gaza in 2007. The factions signed a declaration of unity in Beijing in July.
Sinwar ended his life with “honorable heroism,” Zaki said in his statement. “He was not hiding underground or behind the confrontation lines, but rather he was carrying his weapon and his quiver and fighting like any resistance fighter in the field.”
Iranian leaders issue statements mourning SinwarIranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement today that the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “will not weaken the resistance” against Israel, while noting that it is “a deep loss.”
In a separate statement on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “the cause for liberation of Palestine from occupation is more alive than ever.”
Iran is the primary state backer of Hamas.
“The war will continue and seems in won’t end,” a resident of the West Bank told NBC News, in reaction to the death of Yahya Sinwar.
U.S. Defense Secretary: This is a chance ‘to end this awful war’The killing of Yahya Sinwar presents an opportunity to negotiate a cease-fire, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters today after a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Sinwar’s death “provides an extraordinary opportunity to achieve a lasting cease-fire, to end this awful war and to rush humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he said, according to Reuters.
The statement strikes a divergent note from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed today to continue the war.
Austin also reaffirmed America’s commitment to Israel, adding that the U.S. forces in the Middle East are ready to support Israel’s defense.
Palestinians rally for Sinwar in occupied West BankMax Butterworth
John Wessels / AFP – Getty ImagesJohn Wessels / AFP – Getty ImagesPeople gather on the streets of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank today, waving Palestinian flags and holding portraits of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Senior Hamas official: Sinwar’s death ‘will only increase’ our solidarityKhalil Al-Hayya, a top official of Hamas’ political bureau, said in a speech today that the group is undeterred by Yahya Sinwar’s death.
The death of Sinwar “will only increase the strength and solidity of our movement,” Al-Hayya said, calling Sinwar “a continuation of the caravan of great martyrs in the footsteps of the founding Sheikh Ahmed Yassin,” who was assassinated by Israel in 2004.
Al-Hayya did not name a successor to Sinwar but made clear that Hamas would remain steadfast in its perseverance.
“Hamas is moving forward until the establishment of the Palestinian state on all Palestinian soil with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.
Israel sends more troops into north Gaza, deepens raid Reuters
The Israeli military said on Friday it sent another army unit to support its forces operating in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, where residents said tanks blew up roads and houses as they thrust further into the territory.
Residents of Jabalia in northern Gaza said Israeli tanks had reached the heart of the camp, using heavy air and ground fire, after pushing through suburbs and residential districts.
They added that the Israeli army was destroying dozens of houses on a daily basis, sometimes from the air and the ground and by placing bombs in buildings then detonating them remotely.
The Israeli military said its forces, which have been operating in Jabalia for the past two weeks, killed dozens of militants in close-quarters combat on Thursday and carried out aerial strikes and dismantled military infrastructure.
Sinwar’s death may hasten an end to the war in Gaza, some Jerusalem residents say Jerusalem residents said they hoped for a “positive stage” in Israel’s Gaza war, following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
IDF said it eliminates two ‘terrorists’ who crossed over the border from Jordan The Israel Defense Forces said it killed two people it called “terrorists” who crossed a few feet over the border into Israel from Jordan.
The suspects were identified earlier today, IDF said, and the forces exchanged fire with the two people. One IDF reservist and one IDF soldier were injured, it added. IDF also said that it suspected the “presence of an additional terrorist” in the area.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said in a statement today that its soldiers had not crossed the border.
Hamas leadership declares mourning Hamas’ collective leadership confirmed Yahya Sinwar’s death today in a lengthy statement that lauded the assassinated head of the militant group’s “martyrdom.”
“The martyr leader Yahya Sinwar was a continuation of the caravan of great martyr leaders,” the statement issued on Telegram read, along with a long list of slain senior members of the group.
The group vowed to continue fighting until the “comprehensive” liberation and the “return and the establishment of the Palestinian state on the entire Palestinian national soil with Jerusalem as its capital.”
IDF calling up additional reserve brigade to northern Israel The Israel Defense Forces said on Friday that it is calling up an additional reserve brigade for operational missions to support its forces in northern Israel, where cross-border clashes with Hezbollah are ongoing.
This official announcement was posted in a statement on Telegram, saying the move will “enable the continuation of combat efforts” against Hezbollah and “the achievement of the goals of the war, including the safe return of the residents of northern Israel to their homes.”
Netanyahu promises more war, dashing peace hopes after Hamas leader killed Reuters
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promises to press on with Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon dashed hopes today that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar might help end more than a year of escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, meanwhile, vowed to escalate fighting against Israel and its backer Iran said “the spirit of resistance” would be strengthened by the death of its Palestinian ally Sinwar in Gaza.
Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, was killed during an operation by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave Wednesday, a pivotal event in the yearlong conflict.
Netanyahu called Sinwar’s killing a milestone late yesterday but vowed to keep up the war, which in recent weeks expanded from fighting against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza into an invasion of southern Lebanon and the bombardment of large swaths of the country.
“The war, my dear ones, is not yet over,” Netanyahu told Israelis, saying fighting would continue until hostages held by Hamas are released.
Biden meets with German chancellor, discuss possibility of Gaza cease-fireReporting from Berlin, Germany
During President Joe Biden’s visit to Berlin today, he addressed recent developments in the Middle East and the conflict in Ukraine. Speaking alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he said they would discuss the regional security situation in the Middle East and also thanked Germany for holding Iran accountable for “destabilizing policies.”
The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar yesterday “represents a moment of justice,” Biden said. “He had the blood of Americans and Israelis, Palestinians and Germans and so many others on his hands, I told the Prime Minister of Israel yesterday, let’s also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas.”
Chancellor Scholz said it is more important than ever to prevent an escalation in the region and added that with the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “we now hopefully see a tangible prospect” for a cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage release.
The two leaders are scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron later today. Biden announced Thursday that he will send Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel early next week to advance diplomatic efforts.
UNIFIL spokesperson alleges deliberate attacks by Israel, says use of self-defense possibleReuters
Aurora AlmendralAurora Almendral is a London-based editor with NBC News Digital.
Reuters and Aurora Almendral
A United Nations’ UNIFIL peacekeeping mission spokesperson said today that the 10,000-strong force would remain in Lebanon despite several direct attacks, some of which he described as deliberate, by the Israeli military in recent days.
“We need to stay, they asked us to move,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said by video link from Beirut. He added that morale among peacekeepers, several of whom have been injured by the attacks, remained high.
Asked about the possible use of self-defense against Israel, Tenenti said it could be used but it was important to deconflict tensions.
“The devastation and destruction of many villages along the Blue Line, and even beyond, is shocking,” he said, referring to a U.N.-mapped demarcation separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Asked about the downing of a drone near its ship off the Lebanese coast yesterday, he said: “The drone was coming from the south but circling around the ship and getting very, very close, a few meters away from the ship.”
Tenenti also said that UNIFIL has found traces of the possible use of white phosphorous near one of its bases several months ago. White phosphorous is an incendiary weapon, and its indiscriminate use is a potential violation of international humanitarian law.
Hamas vows continued fight after Israeli forces kill SinwarKeir Simmons
Reporting from Dubai, UAE
In the militant group’s first public response to Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a senior Hamas member today told NBC News that the organization would not let up on its fight.
“Israel believes that killing our leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people,” said Basem Naim, a member of the organization’s political bureau, when asked whether Sinwar’s death marked the beginning of the end of Hamas.
He named a series of leaders who had been assassinated by Israel, such as founders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, and added: “Hamas each time became stronger and more popular, and these leaders became an icon for future generations to continue the journey towards a free Palestine.”
Hamas says it launched the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in response to Israel’s actions and treatment of Palestinians in Gaza, Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, and in a bid to derail Israeli normalization efforts with Arab states.
“Hamas is a liberation movement led by people looking for freedom and dignity, and this cannot be eliminated,” he said.
Hamas, which does not officially recognize Israel and has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and others, has run Gaza since it was elected in 2006.
Sinwar’s death ‘wasn’t significant’ to Gazans facing daily death, Palestinian saysSinwar is the same as any other person “afflicted” in Gaza, and his death wasn’t significant — it’s “regular news,” said Ahmed Yossef, who described himself as a former deputy director of education in Gaza.
He added that he has “no optimism” that there will be a truce or a peace process.
“He is the same as anyone in the Palestinian community,” Yossef said. “In my opinion, things will be the same. Nothing will change at all — it may get worse.”
‘Now, more than ever,’ is the time to act for hostages, Israel’s president saysReporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
Israeli President Isaac Herzog commended the country’s military and security forces for killing Sinwar, whom he described as the mastermind behind years of “heinous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians.”
Sinwar dedicated his life to bloodshed and “destabilizing the Middle East,” Herzog wrote on X today.
“Now, more than ever, we must act in every way possible to bring back the 101 hostages who are still being held in horrific conditions by Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” Herzog said.
Sinwar’s death would be an opportunity for hostage deal, Israeli politician saysYair Lapid, head of the opposition to Netanyahu, said the government should use this moment to free the remaining 101 hostages being held in Gaza.
Lapid said on X that it was time for a “decisive move.”
“Strive for a comprehensive deal and also offer monetary rewards and safe passage to anyone who brings hostages to our forces,” he wrote.
Netanyahu said Sinwar’s death could mark “the beginning of the end” of the war in Gaza.
Father of remaining hostage finds ‘no reason’ for celebrationShira Pinson
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, says he finds “no reason right now for celebration” after the death of Sinwar.
“Our way of life was destroyed,” Dekel-Chen told NBC News. “There is now going to be multigenerational trauma, not just for my family and country, but also for the people of Gaza. There is no vindication here.”
At least 51 of Dekel-Chen’s friends were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and eight more died later as captives in Gaza. He said there could be no victory, not even a partial one, until every person trapped in captivity is returned home.
Some might rejoice at Sinwar’s death, but for those who still have loved ones in Gaza, there is fear for their safety, he added. Military action may have killed Sinwar, but there is no reason to believe it will bring the living hostages back safely, he said.
“Now that Sinwar has evidently been killed, there is zero justification for doing anything other than all means possible and necessary to get the hostages home,” he said.
French and British leaders express condolences to Sinwar’s victimsIan Sherwood
Sinwar’s death is a move toward a long-overdue release of hostages and moves to “sustainable peace” in the Middle East, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement today.
“Today my thoughts are with the families of those victims,” Starmer said. “The U.K. will not mourn his death.”
French President Emmanuel Macron echoed those sentiments on X, repeating that Sinwar was the “main person” responsible for the atrocities Oct. 7.
“Today, I think with emotion of the victims, including 48 of our compatriots, and their loved ones,” Macron wrote. “France demands the release of all hostages still held by Hamas.”
A drone identified Sinwar, IDF saysIsraeli forces identified three Hamas militants moving from house to house yesterday when Sinwar fled into a building on his own, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a briefing today.
The military sent in a drone that identified a masked man with a wounded hand, who has since been identified as Sinwar, before he threw a wooden plank at the drone, Hagari said. A video from the drone released by the IDF shows a man sitting down in a destroyed building, but his face is entirely covered, and he does not turn his face to the camera.
“We found him wearing a vest, carrying a gun, and with 40,000 shekels,” Hagari said. “He was on the run, fleeing, and our forces eliminated him.”
Death of Sinwar won’t affect the conditions of Hamas’ demands, Gazan saysWhile Sinwar’s death may give Netanyahu a “bonus” in his political standing, Thabaat El-Moaar is unconvinced it will change Hamas’ demands.
El-Mooar, a writer and political analyst who spoke to NBC News in Khan Younis, said Sinwar’s is just one of a long list of assassinations that have not stopped the “resistance.” El-Moaar does not believe that changes Hamas’ standing or forces a surrender.
“According to Netanyahu, he has accomplished achievements on the ground,” he said. “These achievements indeed satisfied Netanyahu, but it won’t stop the resistance.”
With Sinwar dead, there is no more justification for the war, said El-Moaar, who called for a deal to end the war and release the hostages.
Most Palestinians in Gaza won’t grieve Sinwar, former Camp David adviser saysThere will be some who grieve the death of Yahya Sinwar, but it’s doubtful that most Gazans will be among them, said Omar Dajani, who worked with the Palestinian negotiating team peace talks during the Clinton administration.
“Even if one could put to the side the tens of thousands of lives lost and the many more lives destroyed … I believe the assault Sinwar masterminded made finding a way for Jews and Palestinians to live together in peace on our common homeland much, much harder,” Dajani said.
Sinwar’s actions made it harder to demand that international law be applied, and it made the return of Palestinian refugees harder. The future of Palestinian workers trying to make a living will be more difficult, as well as cohabitation in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians, he said.
“And he did it all without any concrete notion of how it would secure his contorted and fantastical vision of liberation,” Dajani said.
Sinwar’s killing could mark ‘new phase’ for Hamas, expert saysSinwar’s death is “significant for Israel’s government … at the very least in terms of it being a political win, with the commemoration of the Oct. 7 attack only having just passed,” Mahdi Ghuloom, a regional security analyst at Le Beck International, told NBC News.
In an email before Israel confirmed it had killed Sinwar, Ghuloom said the development could “present a window of opportunity for cease-fire talks to resume,” adding: “Sinwar was reportedly a big barrier to such talks from succeeding.”
“We are already seeing statements by Israeli hostage families calling on PM Netanyahu to grasp such an opportunity and secure a hostage release deal. Whether the Israeli government does seize this opportunity remains to be seen, as well as who may replace Sinwar,” he said.
He said Sinwar’s death could also “mark a new phase for Hamas” in its approach to the fight against Israeli forces.
Sinwar and two others opened fire on Israeli troops, IDF saysIntelligence tipped off the IDF that Hamas leadership was near the Rafah area, which led to weeks of operations in southern Gaza, IDF spokesperson Doron Spielman told MSNBC.
The area the leaders could move in was restricted, which Spielman said troops hoped would force them to make a mistake. Sinwar eventually fell into the trap when he and two others started firing on IDF soldiers, he said.
“The Israeli troops returned fire — also with a tank mortar shell — the mortar shell hit the building, killing Sinwar and the other terrorists,” Spielman said.
Reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
Rita Lifschitz, whose in-laws were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, fears Yahya Sinwar’s death makes the safe release of hostages less likely. She is worried about what Hamas’ next leader may do.
Photos: Israelis react to news of Sinwar’s deathMatthew Nighswander
Jack Guez / AFP – Getty ImagesIsraelis celebrated the news of Sinwar’s death tonight in the coastal city of Netanya, above, and near kibbutz Erez, below, in southern Israel.
Tsafrir Abayov / APAriel Schalit / APIn Tel Aviv, a demonstrator held a sign about his death during a protest calling for a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke on the phone Reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
From Air Force One, Biden called Netanyahu to congratulate him on Sinwar’s death, the prime minister’s office said.
“The American president praised the IDF for the excellent work,” the office said.
According to the statement, the two men agreed to work together on the potential release of the remaining hostages.
Israel dealt a ‘lethal blow’ to Hamas by killing Sinwar, researcher saysHamas may be forced to accept defeat now that Israel has dealt it a “lethal blow” in killing Sinwar, researcher Burcu Ozcelik told NBC News.
Ozcelik, who worked at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London, described Sinwar as a “cult of personality” leader whom his followers regarded as “near invincible.”
“With Sinwar, an intractable and non-compromising Hamas leader, now gone, it may be possible for Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, alongside regional states, to begin planning for the ‘day after’ scenario in Gaza,” Ozcelik said.
The remaining question is whether that will mean an end to the military campaign in Gaza, which will have to consider Hamas’ remaining power and the status of the remaining hostages.
“If the hostages can be returned safely, this will undoubtedly be a major victory for the IDF and Netanyahu, whose legacy will now include the killing of the architect of the October 7th attack,” Ozcelik said.
No terrorist ‘anywhere’ can escape justice, Biden says Biden said Sinwar’s death was good for Israel, the U.S. and the world.
Israel’s military has been chasing Hamas’ leadership with help from American intelligence, Biden said, “forcing them onto the run” over the last year. Sinwar’s death proves that “no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes,” he added.
“There has rarely been a military campaign like this, with Hamas leaders living and moving through hundreds of miles of tunnels, organized in multiple stories underground, determined to protect themselves with no care for the civilians suffering above ground,” Biden said.
Biden said he would be speaking with Israeli leaders to congratulate them and discuss a path “for ending this war once and for all.”
U.S. will redouble efforts to end Gaza war after Sinwar’s death, Blinken saysAbigail Williams
In the wake of Sinwar’s death, the U.S. will push harder to end the war in Gaza with its regional partners and chart a new path forward, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today.
Blinken said in a statement that Sinwar had rebuffed efforts for a hostage return deal in past months.
“In the days ahead, the United States will redouble its efforts with partners to end this conflict, secure the release all hostages, and chart a new path forward that will enable the people of Gaza to rebuild their lives and realize their aspirations free from war and free from the brutal grip of Hamas,” he said.
Blinken spoke with his Arab counterparts, including Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister and Qatar’s prime minister, in calls he made while he was traveling with Biden to Germany.
Sinwar’s vision for the Middle East included “death, destruction, instability, chaos,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said today.
“The horrors of the past year cannot be the future, and they do not need to be the future,” Miller said. “It is time to chart a different path.”
Parents of hostage in Gaza are holding their breathThe parents of Omer Neutra, one of the 101 remaining hostages in Gaza, told MSNBC that they are holding their breath in the hope that Sinwar’s death may be a step toward bringing their son home.
Ronen and Orna Neutra said that Netanyahu’s speech today was the strongest language they’ve heard from him about hostages in months and that they believe the country is at an “inflection point” in the war.
Killing Sinwar won’t be the death of Hamas, Obama-era envoy saysSinwar’s death is unlikely to end Hamas’ reign in Gaza, Frank Lowenstein, who was special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the Obama administration, told NBC News.
The reality is that Hamas has tens of thousands of fighters, and it’s likely that there was a succession plan for Sinwar before he was killed, Lowenstein said. Israel’s assassination of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah showed that such groups “survive the death of their leaders.”
But that won’t be immediate, he added, as new leaders are unlikely to make compromises right out of the gate. It’s also unlikely to soften Iran, as the regime there may feel it can’t be seen as backing down to Israel as its proxies are hit.
“Killing Sinwar may have a significant impact on the Israeli side by giving Bibi more political space to eventually make some compromises,” Lowenstein said, referring to Netanyahu. “But for now, seems likely the IDF will try to take advantage of the opportunity to strike hard at Hamas when they are reeling, as they did in Lebanon after Nasrallah.”
Sinwar’s death offers opportunity to ‘finally end the war in Gaza,’ Harris saysSinwar was a man with American as well as Israeli blood on his hands, Vice President Kamala Harris said in an address today, adding that justice has been served. “Hamas is decimated and its leadership is eliminated,” Harris said. “This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza.”
Sinwar’s death does not mark ‘a happy evening’ for father of slain Oct. 7 soldierShira Pinson
While some in Israel may be rejoicing at the news of Sinwar’s death, Eyal Eshel knows it will not bring back his daughter, Roni.
Roni was assigned to the watchtower at Nahal Oz near the Gaza border on Oct. 7 when militants launched their surprise attack on Israel. While Eshel commends the troops who killed Sinwar, he hopes the political leadership will “come to its senses” to return the hostages.
“The time is ripe, this is the golden hour,” Eshel said. “This is the time to put pressure on Hamas, what’s left of it, in order to bring the hostages back.”
Sinwar’s death, he said, should serve as a reminder to everyone that Israel needs to focus on the 101 people who remain captive in Gaza. He said that “anything” should be on the table to bring them home.
“We need to use every possible means to get the information from the people who have it and if money needs to be paid, then they should pay the money,” Eshel said.
Palestinian in Gaza prays that Sinwar’s death ‘would be a mercy’Whether people in Gaza supported Sinwar or not, some in the enclave are praying his killing will lead to an end to the war.
One man said while he does not describe himself as a follower of Sinwar’s, he was saddened by the death of “an icon of resistance.” He now worries that with Sinwar dead there will be no one to negotiate with for an end to the war, making the situation more difficult.
“As they claim, Yahya Sinwar is the last thing the Israeli demands,” he said. “We hope for better things from the Almighty, for a better future, and for the war to end well, with a cessation of fire.”
Another man said that Sinwar’s assassination is no different than that of any of the more than 40,000 people who have been killed in Gaza to date. But the now-displaced tailor hopes that by “cutting off the head,” Israel will end its siege.
He prays that “Sinwar’s death would be a mercy.”
“I mean, there isn’t any justification for the machinery of demolition, destruction, killing, and death to go on,” he said. “It’s the end unless there are false justifications, such as they wanted Sinwar, and they continue the war.”
‘We’re not looking for revenge,’ Gil Dickmann, cousin of slain hostage, saysGil Dickmann, the cousin of Carmel Gat, who was confirmed in August to have been killed in Hamas’ captivity along with five other hostages, welcomed Sinwar’s killing as “good news” today, but he said “the achievement is not complete.”
“The happiness cannot be complete until all the hostages are here,” he told NBC News.
Dickmann said hostage families were “not looking for revenge. We don’t want to seek the death of the people who killed the six hostages. What we are aiming at is the release of the 101 hostages that are still in Hamas’ hands.”
“There is an actual opportunity right now to get all of them out of captivity, to get all of them home,” he said. “That is the only thing that we care about right now.”
Israeli minister calls for ‘intense military pressure’ on GazaIsraeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich commended the IDF for killing Sinwar, whom he called “the father of all murderers.”
On X, Smotrich went on to say it was time for the IDF to ensure everyone in Gaza knew Sinwar was dead.
He called for an increase in “intense military pressure” on Gaza while also “offering safe passage and a financial reward to those who return our hostages to us and ask to lay down their arms and leave the Strip.”
Sinwar’s death marks the beginning of the ‘day after Hamas,’ Netanyahu says in addressReporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
In an address to the nation today on Sinwar’s death, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Evil suffered a heavy blow.”
“I want to say again, as clearly as possible: Hamas will no longer rule Gaza,” he said. “This is the beginning of the day after Hamas, and this is an opportunity for you, the residents of Gaza, to finally break free from its tyranny.”
Sinwar ruined the lives of Gazans, Netanyahu said.
The prime minister also addressed the family members of the 101 hostages who remain in Gaza, calling their return the country’s “highest obligation.” He urged anyone still holding hostages to release them immediately.
“To the dear families of the hostages, I say: This is an important moment in the war,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue with all our might until the return of all your loved ones, who are our loved ones, to their homes.”
Fingerprints and dental records confirm Sinwar’s identityReporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel Police said in a post on X that dental records and fingerprint matching have confirmed that Yahya Sinwar had been killed.
Sinwar’s death won’t bring back those who were lost, former soldier saysShira Pinson
Former soldier Roni Lifshitz says while she is happy that Sinwar is dead, she has mixed feelings about the news.
“On the other hand, five of my friends are still not here, they are still in captivity,” said Lifshitz, who was stationed near kibbutz Nahal Oz, which was devastated in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. “He was responsible for the fact that they are held hostage. His death will not bring back the rest of my friends.”
Lifshitz lost 15 of her friends on Oct. 7 when Hamas led a terror attack on Israel, reportedly masterminded by Sinwar. She hopes, however, that development will advance the return of the 101 hostages who remain in Gaza.
“In actual fact, in this sense we already lost, in the sense that the hostages have been held there for over a year,” Lifshitz said.
It’s time to bring back ‘every single hostage’ left in Gaza, hostage family group saysThe death of Sinwar is time to return “every single hostage” remaining in Gaza back to their families, no more delays or demands, the Hostage Family Forum said in a statement today.
“Whether through negotiation or by any other means, all parties must immediately seize this opportunity to bring home the 101 remaining hostages, including seven Americans, before it is too late,” the statement said.
Sinwar being killed is a step toward justice, the group said, but it is not the end goal. True victory will only be achieved when “every hostage is released and the suffering of civilians in Gaza ends.”
Sinwar’s death a message to others to ‘surrender,’ defense minister saysReporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel has brought justice to its citizens by killing Sinwar, the man who orchestrated the Oct. 7 terror attack that killed 1,200 people last year, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in an address today.
“Sinwar died while beaten, persecuted and on the run — he didn’t die as a commander, but as someone who only cared for himself,” Gallant said.
The defense minister noted that Sinwar is the latest in a string of assassinations of both Hamas and Hezbollah leadership in recent months. He called it a “clear message” to the residents of Gaza and the rest of Hamas’ militants.
People wave the Israeli flag as they celebrate the news of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Netanya, Israel today.Ariel Schalit / AP”Go out with the hostages, free them, and surrender,” Gallant said.
Sinwar killed after Hamas leaders were tracked down, IDF saysYahya Sinwar has spent the last year hiding among civilians in Gaza both above ground and below, in Hamas’ network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said in a statement confirming his death.
The military’s southern command followed intelligence that led to a suspected location of three senior Hamas leaders, according to the IDF.
“The dozens of operations carried out by the IDF and the ISA over the last year, and in recent weeks in the area where he was eliminated, restricted Yahya Sinwar’s operational movement as he was pursued by the forces and led to his elimination,” the statement said.
Sinwar’s death is happy news for Israelis but it doesn’t change anything, researcher saysNews that Sinwar had been killed may be “a very happy moment for every Israeli,” though it is unlikely to change things for the hostages, a researcher at Hebrew University of Jerusalem told NBC News shortly before Sinwar’s death was confirmed.
“The people of Israel are thinking about them,” said Ronni Shaked, a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Institute at the university. “But Israel is not going to find some new way to bring them back now because it’s not just in the hands of Sinwar.”
Shaked, who met Sinwar and the former Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh years ago, said Hamas can continue without its recent leadership, noting that Hamas only became more fundamentalist after its original leaders were killed in 2004.
Without a strategic plan on how to get out of Gaza, it will be “a disaster,” Shaked said. “The only way to move Hamas aside is to bring an alternative Palestinian regime to Gaza.”
Gaza’s future remains uncertain, and Shaked does not believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will stop at Sinwar’s death. The West Bank is also influenced by Hamas, he said.
“We have to look at this moment to look at what’s next,” Shaked said. “If we want a new Middle East, what can we do?”
Congressional briefings being held over Sinwar news+3
House Speaker Mike Johnson was briefed on the news that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been killed, a source directly familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also been briefed, a person familiar with the briefing also confirmed. Representatives for both Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on whether they had been briefed.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner was also briefed by CIA Director William Burns about the operation, a spokesperson for Warner said.
Separately, bipartisan staff for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has been briefed by administration officials, according to another source with direct knowledge.
Sinwar killing a ‘Pyrrhic victory’ for Israel, Rashid Khalidi says Sinwar’s killing would be a “Pyrrhic victory” for Israel, Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and author of ‘The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine,” told NBC News shortly before the news was confirmed.
“Talk about a Pyrrhic victory,” he said, suggesting Hamas would remain strong in both ideology and on the battlefield, even if its leader has been killed.
Recalling the recent assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the killing over three decades ago of Abbas al-Musawi, then the secretary-general of Hezbollah, as well as the “killing of hundreds of PLO and Hamas leaders over the years,” Khalidi said: “The killing of Sinwar, if confirmed, will not minimize resistance to Israel’s occupations.”
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is killed in Gaza, Israeli foreign minister saysHamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed during Israeli operations in Gaza, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“Terrorist mastermind Yahya Sinwar, responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7th, was eliminated today by IDF soldiers,” Katz said in a statement to fellow foreign ministers worldwide.
“This is a great military and moral achievement for Israel and a victory for the entire free world against the axis of radical Islam led by Iran,” he said.
Sinwar’s death “creates an opportunity for the immediate release of the hostages and a potential change that could lead to a new reality in Gaza—without Hamas and without Iranian control,” he added.
He did not expand on how Sinwar’s killing would advance the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
“Israel now needs your support and assistance more than ever to advance these crucial goals together,” he said.
Pro-Israel group to hold rally in NYC celebrating possibility of Sinwar’s deathMembers of Betar USA, a Zionist youth movement, are planning to rally outside the Israeli consulate in New York City today to celebrate the possible death of Sinwar.
“The world is a better place today,” Ross Glick, director of Betar USA, said in a statement sent to NBC News.
“The entire world should be celebrating today the death of this man who has so much blood on his hands,” he said, though Sinwar’s death has yet to be confirmed.
In a news release, Betar USA said demonstrators planned to gather holding signs reading “Thank You IDF: ‘Sinwar is Dead: Celebrate'” and “Hamas is ISIS.”
Sinwar’s possible death prompts excitement in Israel, but also wonder about what it means for hostagesReporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
Guy Sarfati was skeptical when he first heard news of Sinwar’s possible death, but as time went by the 26-year-old university student became excited at the idea of a victory against Hamas.
“We’ve been waking up each day in Israel to terrible news, hearing about another soldier killed or another hostage being killed in Gaza,” Sarfati told NBC News. “So, finally, we have some positive news to wake up to.”
But the immediate question that followed was: What does this mean for the hostages? Sarfati hopes that Sinwar’s death can be used as leverage.
“It raises immediate concerns, obviously,” he said. “But I hope this could be a turning point in the war in the south, because we’ve been through this for so long.”
Hagay Keren, 52, praised the IDF’s achievement but is doesn’t believe there will be a victory in this war until all 101 hostages are returned home.
The attorney hopes the government will seize the opportunity to “exploit the chaos” to bring them back.
Keren said this could be a chance to offer incentives for people still holding hostages to turn them over, but is skeptical that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will do so.
“I fear that the motives of Netanyahu’s government are never entirely pure, and that the greatest interest of Netanyahu’s government is the continuation of the war, meaning that all possibilities for bringing back the hostages now might not be fully pursued,” Keren said.
Hostage families told ‘no signs of harm’ to captivesThe IDF told hostage families today that there were “no signs of harm” to hostages still being held near to where the body believed to be Sinwar’s was found in Gaza, according to two sources close to families.
Each family, including American, has an IDF point of contact for updates. They were informed of Sinwar’s possible death and of efforts to confirm it.
Who is Yahya Sinwar? Yahya Sinwar is the Hamas leader who Israeli officials said was the main architect of the group’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel and who the country’s military has been chasing for more than a year.
It’s been believed that Sinwar, who was in charge of day-to-day operations in Gaza prior to the Oct. 7 attack, was able to escape Israel Defense Forces by using Hamas’ complex tunnel system in the Palestinian enclave. After the Oct. 7 attack, a former IDF spokesperson described him as a “dead man walking” as the military vowed to eliminate him.
Sinwar joined Hamas after it was founded in 1987, gaining a reputation for brutality after he reportedly helped to form the militant group’s internal security force, according a profile of him by European Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.
Yahya Sinwar in 2023Mohammed Talatene / dpa via Getty Images fileHe was captured by Israel two years later and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in killing Israeli troops and Palestinian collaborators. Sinwar returned to Gaza in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange for an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was held hostage by Hamas for five years.
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Body believed to be Sinwar’s found after gun battle, Israeli official saysReporting from Tel Aviv, Israel
Troops identified the body believed to be Yahya Sinwar’s in an operation that killed multiple Hamas militants, an Israeli official told NBC News.
Speaking before the Hamas leader was confirmed dead, the official said that soldiers weren’t specifically looking for Sinwar.
There was a “serious exchange” during a heavy gun battle, the official said. No hostages were found in the vicinity.
Israeli military investigating ‘possibility’ Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in Gaza The Israeli military said Thursday it is “checking the possibility” that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused of being the architect of the Oct. 7 terror attack, was among three militants killed in Gaza during its operations in the enclave.
Sinwar was declared Hamas’ new political head in August following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, where he was attending the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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Source : NBC News