Joe Biden has urged Israel’s prime minister to “move on” and make progress towards a ceasefire in Gaza following the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader and mastermind of the 7 October attack, as world leaders renewed a push for an end to the conflict.
Hours after the killing on Thursday in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town, the US president congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Sinwar “has a lot of blood on his hands — American blood, Israeli blood, and others”.
Speaking as he arrived in Germany to meet European leaders, Biden said he felt “more hopeful” about the prospects of a ceasefire and would send US secretary of state Antony Blinken to Israel in the next four or five days.
Biden joins figures including vice-president Kamala Harris, British prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in urging progress towards a ceasefire.
Blinken held separate phone calls on Thursday with Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on ending the conflict in the Middle East, the state department said.
The push came as Iran’s mission to the UN said the killing would strengthen the “the spirit of resistance” and inspire future generations, while Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group in Lebanon, announced “the transition to a new and escalating phase in the confrontation with Israel”.
Hamas has not yet commented on the death of the group’s leader.
In a TV address, the Israeli prime minister described Sinwar’s death as the “beginning of the end” but added that the country must “stand firm on our ground and to continue to fight”.
“We have demonstrated today that all those who try to harm us, this is what happens to them,” Netanyahu said. “And how the forces of good can always beat the forces of evil and darkness. The war is still ongoing, and it’s costly.”
It is not yet clear what impact Sinwar’s killing will have on Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Most analysts believe that Israel is now intent on a military occupation of the territory for the foreseeable future.
Ahead of his visit to Germany, Biden said: “There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us.”
Earlier, Blinken called Sinwar a “vicious and unrepentant terrorist” and said he had repeatedly torpedoed agreements that would have ended the conflict. “On multiple occasions over the past months, Sinwar rebuffed efforts by the United States and its partners to bring this war to a close through an agreement that would return the hostages to their families and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people,” Blinken said.
As news of Sinwar’s death, and gruesome images of his body, spread in Gaza, many were left wondering what the future holds.
“The assassination of Yahya Sinwar is a tragedy for the people of Gaza, we did not expect it,” said Amal al-Hanawi, 28, from Nuseirat in the centre of the Gaza Strip where she took refuge after fleeing fighting in the north. “I have the impression that Hamas is over, that there is no longer a powerful resistance, it has fallen apart,” she told AFP, saying that this is “exactly what Netanyahu wants”.
“We are exhausted, the war has gone too far, it has taken everything from us,” said Shadi Nofal Abou Maher, 23, saying he hoped “the world will intervene” to end the war.
In Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a displaced Palestinian named Thabet Amour told Reuters the Palestinian fight would continue. “This is resistance that does not disappear when men disappear,” he said. “The assassination of Sinwar will not lead to the end of the resistance or to a compromise or surrender and raising the white flag.”
In the streets as well as on social networks, some welcomed the “resistance” led by Sinwar, praising him for fighting until the end. “He will be remembered as a leader who died on the battlefield,” said 36-year-old Ahmed Omar.
Families of Israeli hostages said that while the killing of Sinwar was a significant achievement, it would not be complete while hostages are still in Gaza.
Avi Marciano, the father of Noa Marciano, who was killed in captivity by Hamas, told Israeli broadcaster KAN that “the monster, the one who took her from me, who had the blood of all our daughters on his hands, finally met the gates of hell.”
“A little justice, but no comfort,” he said. “There will be comfort only when Naama, Liri, Agam, Daniela and Karina, our girls’ friends, return home.”
Some Israelis hailed the news of Sinwar’s death as a sign of better things to come.
“I am celebrating the death of Sinwar, who has brought us nothing but harm, who has taken people hostage,” said one Israeli woman, Hemda, who only gave her first name.
Attending a Tel Aviv rally demanding the hostages’ release, 60-year-old Sisil, who also gave only her first name, said his killing presented a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for “a hostage deal to end the war”.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 people taken hostage. Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 42,438 people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which the UN considers reliable.
With Agence France-Presse and Reuters