Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was recently killed in an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation. A week after this major operation, it emerged that Sinwar had previously been given the opportunity to leave Gaza and Egypt to negotiate a hostage deal on behalf of Hamas. According to the Wall Street Journal report, in response to this proposal, Sinwar told the Arab mediators: “I am not surrounded, I am on Palestinian land.” Sinwar gave this statement after the massacre that occurred on October 7, 2023, which he himself carried out.
Sinwar had realized that they were going to kill him.
As the war progressed, Sinwar reportedly realized that his death was possible. He told the mediators that Hamas should elect a leadership council, which would take the reins of the organization after him. The report claims that Sinwar repeatedly told Hamas negotiators in Qatar not to accept a ceasefire agreement. He believed that the increasing killings of civilians in Gaza would increase international pressure on Israel and felt that this conflict could turn the entire region against Israel.
When Israeli forces closed in on Sinwar and destroyed the tunnels in Gaza where he was hiding, he had to fight on the ground. Therefore, the possibility of his death increased. Preparing for his possible death, Sinwar warned Hamas that Israel would make some concessions after his death, but that Hamas must not bow down.
Previously there was also an attempt to kill Muhammad Deif.
The report also says that during the previous government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, attempts were made to kill Sinwar and his military chief Muhammad Deif, but officials believed they were scared. Netanyahu’s successor, Naftali Bennett, had proposed at least twice killing Sinwar, but the plan was thwarted by the fall of his government.
Sinwar was the biggest obstacle in the mortgage deal
Sinwar, considered the biggest obstacle to a hostage deal, was killed in a shootout with Israeli forces in the southern Gaza neighborhood of Rafah last Wednesday. Israel says Muhammad Deif was killed in July. Sinwar’s death has now given rise to hopes that long-stalled talks for the release of 101 people held hostage by Hamas can be resumed. Egyptian officials hope to use this opportunity to achieve a ceasefire and change Israel’s “tough stance” on Gaza.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will visit Egypt
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will visit Israel and then Egypt on Tuesday. The talks to be held in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, will focus on the administration of Gaza and the deployment of international forces on the Egypt-Gaza border. Israel says it needs to maintain some control in Gaza to stop weapons smuggling. Israeli officials are looking for an opportunity to end the war with a hostage deal, as relatives of several hostages have asked Netanyahu.
Following Sinwar’s death, it remains to be seen what direction the stalled talks between Hamas and Israel will take and whether a deal can be reached to end the war.
