50 | OCTOBER 24 • 2024 J
N

ATIA MOHAMMED/FLASH90/JNS

Hamas chief 
Yahya Sinwar 
at a rally in 
Gaza City, May 
24, 2021.

T

he elimination Oct. 16 of Yahya Sinwar, 
Hamas’ top military-terrorist and polit-
ical chief and the architect of the Oct. 7 
invasion — the worst massacre of Jews since the 
Holocaust — marks a major turning point in the 
battle to degrade the Iranian-backed jihadist net-
work surrounding Israel.
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari 
said on Oct. 10 that when Sinwar was killed, he 
had been in flight, attempting to flee from house-
to-house between structures in Rafah, in southern 
Gaza. 
“Sinwar’s attempt to flee was driven by the pres-
sure exerted by Israeli forces, who had been clos-
ing in on him in Rafah over a prolonged period,
” 
Hagari said, adding that Sinwar had been using 
tunnels and the cover of civilians to avoid detec-
tion. 
Sinwar’s elimination significantly weakens 
Hamas’ operational capabilities and disrupts its 
leadership structure. His removal is not only a 

tactical victory but also a strategic achievement 
that vindicates Israel’s refusal to agree to premature 
withdrawals that would have allowed Hamas to 
regroup and rearm. This achievement moves Israel 
significantly closer to neutralizing the Iranian-
jihadist vision of a “ring of fire” around its borders.
Sinwar’s death sends the messages to terrorists 
and their backers throughout the Middle East that 
Israel will settle accounts with all who target its 
people.
His death also provides Israel with unprecedent-
ed leverage in negotiations concerning the remain-
ing 101 Hamas-held hostages. Sinwar was known 
for his hardline stance and unwillingness to com-
promise on his demands; his absence opens the 
door to possible approaches by surviving Hamas 
members holding the hostages.
Col. (res.) Amit Assa, a former senior member 
of the Shin Bet intelligence service, stated that 
Sinwar had expected Iran and Hezbollah to join 
Hamas in the initial Oct. 7, 2023, attack but that 
the timing wasn’t right for the Iranian axis to 
join an all-out attack. This, despite the fact that 
Hezbollah had prepared its own mass murder 
ground assault from southern Lebanon, whose 
infrastructure is now being destroyed by the IDF.
Ultimately, the elimination of Sinwar is more 
than the death of a terrorist mastermind. It is a sig-
nificant milestone in Israel’s broader fight against 
Iranian-backed jihadist movements that seek to 
destroy the Jewish state and take over the Middle 
East.
Israel has not only weakened its enemies; it is 
creating new possibilities for the wider region. 

Yaakov Lappin is an Israel-based military affairs correspondent 

and analyst. Follow him at www.patreon.com/yaakovlappin.

Sinwar’s 
Death is 
a ‘Major 
Turning 
Point’

YAAKOV LAPPIN JNS, ANALYSIS

ERETZ

For months, the United States has signaled that 
Yahya Sinwar was the biggest impediment to a 
ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war, with the 
Hamas leader unwilling to consider any scenarios 
that would require his group to cede control over 
the Palestinian territory.
But does that mean his death indicates the war 
could soon come to an end?
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala 
Harris, the Democratic candidate for president 
in next month’s election, say they think it should. 
But both Israel and Hamas have signaled that 
they plan to keep fighting.
Officially announcing Sinwar’s death on Oct. 
11, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, 
“While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it’s 
the beginning of the end … Today, evil suffered a 
heavy blow, but our mission is not yet complet-
ed.”
For its part, neither Hamas nor its allies have 
indicated any plans to give up fighting. Iran, too, 
said the “spirit of resistance” among those oppos-
ing Israel would be strengthened by Sinwar’s 
death. And Hezbollah, the terror group that Israel 
has been battling in Lebanon, said it would esca-
late its aggression against Israel.
On Oct 11, President Joe Biden, speaking at a 
gathering of world leaders in Germany, said he 
told Netanyahu that now was the time to “move 
toward a ceasefire in Gaza … to be in a position 
to make things better for the whole world.”
John Kirby, Biden’s National Security Council 
spokesman, said Sinwar’s removal offers Israel 
ample room now to get to a ceasefire.
“Sinwar was the main obstacle to getting a 
ceasefire done,” he told reporters in Germany. 
Every time Sinwar’s negotiators would provi-
sionally agree to a deal, it would need his final 
approval and he would nix it, Kirby said. “It’s not 
as if the Israelis weren’t willing to continue to find 
compromises, and they did — each and every 
time, Sinwar found a way to stop it,” Kirby said. 
“His death does provide a unique opportunity 
here.”
Even as many Israelis rejoiced at Sinwar’s 
death, families of the 101 people still held hostage 
in Gaza — including dozens thought to be alive 
— said they feared that it would place their loved 
ones in greater danger. They said they feared 
that hostages would be executed in retaliation.
Israeli officials disclosed that six hostages exe-
cuted in August had been killed as troops closed 
in on where they believed Sinwar was hiding, and 
DNA evidence later confirmed that the Hamas 
leader had been in the same tunnel. 

Will Top Terrorist’s Death 
Help End the Gaza War? 

JTA STAFF

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES/JNS

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar holds the son of an 
Al-Qassam Brigades terrorist who was killed in 
recent fighting with Israel, during a rally in Gaza 
City, May 24, 2021. 

