Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar gives Israel a “great opportunity” to stop the Iranian-led “axis of evil” in the Middle East and to free the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Netanyahu delivered a video statement shortly after the Israel Defense Forces and several Israeli officials confirmed Sinwar’s death. The Hamas chief was one of three terrorists killed during a firefight with Israeli soldiers in the southern city of Rafah on Wednesday.
“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza,” Netanyahu promised in the four-minute video, as reported by the Times of Israel. “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.”
The prime minister went on to address the families of the hostages, vowing to return all captives still in Hamas’s custody. About a third of the 101 hostages are believed to be dead, according to Israeli estimates from September.
To the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Netanyahu said, “Sinwar ruined your life. He told you he was a lion, but in reality he was hiding in a dark den. And he was killed when he fled in a panic from our soldiers.”
Sinwar was believed to be hiding in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, according to Israeli media. The IDF soldiers who killed Sinwar on Wednesday reportedly didn’t realize it was him until after the fact. Sinwar’s body was tested for DNA and fingerprints leading up to the official confirmation of his death.
In a direct message to Hamas terrorists, Netanyahu promised that all their leaders would be eliminated like Sinwar was. He said those terrorists holding hostages will be spared by the Israeli military if they surrender their weapons and release the hostages. But for anyone who harms the hostages, Netanyahu promised “blood will be on his head” and a “reckoning” will come upon him.
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant similarly called on Hamas militants to release the hostages and surrender amid the ongoing war.
“The man who brought disaster and death to the Gaza Strip, the man who made you suffer as a result of his murderous actions – the end of this man has come. It is time to go out, release the hostages, raise your hands, surrender,” Gallant said in addressing members of Hamas. “Go out with the hostages, free them, and surrender.”
Sinwar, known as the mastermind of the October 7 attack on Israel last year, was named the new leader of Hamas after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran in late July. Israel has not taken responsibility for the explosion that killed Haniyeh.
Sinwar joined Hamas in the 1980s and has been leading the Palestinian terrorist group within Gaza since 2017. An early architect of the group’s armed wing, Sinwar succeeded Haniyeh as Hamas’s political chief in August.