Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, chairing a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions at his office in Gaza City in 2022 Credit: Adel Hana/AP
Sinwar’s death is ‘beginning of the end’ of the war in Gaza, says Netanyahu.
The death of Yahya Sinwar is “the beginning of the end” of the war in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
“To the people of Gaza, I have a simple message,” the Israeli prime minister said in a statement in English. “This war can end tomorrow. It can end if Hamas lays down its arms and returns our hostages.
“While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it’s the beginning of the end.”
He continued: “Israel will guarantee the safety of all those who return our hostages,” adding that if anyone harms them, “Israel will hunt you down and bring you to justice.”
Training his attention on Israel’s rivals in the Middle East, Mr Netanyahu said that “the axis of terror that was built by Iran is collapsing before our eyes.”
“The reign of terror that the Iranian regime has imposed on its own people and on the peoples of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen – this too will come to an end,” he said.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 17, 2024Yahya Sinwar is dead.
He was killed in Rafah by the brave soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces.
While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it's the beginning of the end. pic.twitter.com/C6wAaLH1Y
11:08PM
Sinwar’s death creates ‘extraordinary opportunity to end terrible war’, says US defence secretary
The death of Yahya Sinwar presents an “extraordinary opportunity” to end “this terrible war” between Israel and Hamas, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has said.
“Sinwar’s death also provides an extraordinary opportunity to achieve a lasting ceasefire, end this terrible war, allow Israelis to return safely to their homes in southern Israel, rush in far more humanitarian assistance to ease the misery in Gaza, and bring relief and hope to the Palestinians who have endured so much under Hamas’s oppressive rule,” he said in a statement.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Comission president, also issued a statement saying the death of Sinwar “is certainly significantly weakening Hamas”.
10:51PM
Sinwar killed while attempting to escape to northern Gaza, suggests IDF
Yahya Sinwar was probably trying to escape to northern Gaza when he was killed, according to the IDF.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF chief spokesman, said the Hamas leader was likely attempting “to escape to the north, to safer areas” as the IDF closed in, The Times of Israel reported.
“He was fleeing from house to house, we identified him as a terrorist, we closed in professionally and eliminated him,” he said, while presenting drone footage of Sinwar’s final moments.
The Hamas leader had been moving around in tunnels in the area for some time before the IDF identified “a terrorist in a building”, Mr Hagari said. They did not know it was Sinwar at the time.
He added: “We fired on the building and went in to search. We found him with a flak jacket and a gun and NIS 40,000,” approximately £8.240.
10:34PM
Watch: Drone captures Sinwar’s final moments
10:32PM
Hamas battalion commander killed alongside Sinwar, says IDF
A senior Hamas commander was killed in the same strike as the group’s leader Yahya Sinwar, the Israel Defence Force has said.
The Hamas leader was found alongside three people, “one of which is a person that has been by his side the entire time, which is the battalion commander of the Khan Younis brigade. He was also killed in that rubble,” IDF spokesman Doran Spielman told CNN.
He did not name the commander he was referring to.
10:14PM
Blinken dispatched to Israel after Sinwar death
US secretary of State Antony Blinken will be sent to Israel following Yahya Sinwar’s death, President Biden has said.
Mr Biden announced he was dispatching his chief diplomat to Israel following a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A phone call also took place between Mr Blinken and President Isaac Herzog, in which the secretary of state congratulated his opposite number on eliminating Sinwar, according to an Israeli readout obtained by The Times of Israel.
Mr Blinken told the presdient that the killing brings justice to Sinwar’s victims and stressed that the world is a better place with him gone, the readout said.
Mr Herzog reportedly responded that Israel’s top priority is freeing the remaining 101 hostages, and that there is now “an important opportunity” to do so.
9:48PM
