Hamas says it 'cannot be eliminated' despite deaths of its leaders

Photo: John Wessels Agence France-Presse Israelis celebrate the news of Yahya Sinwar’s death Thursday night in Jerusalem.

Chloé Rouveyrolles-Bazire – Agence France-Presse and Cyril Julien – Agence France-Presse in Jerusalem

Published at 7:15 a.m.

• Middle East

Israel carried out strikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday after reaffirming its goal of crushing Hamas and dealing a severe blow to the Palestinian Islamist movement by killing its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

In a war on two fronts, Israel announced on Thursday the death of Yahya Sinwar, killed the day before in an operation by its soldiers in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, while its offensive against Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas and also supported by Iran, continues in Lebanon.

The death of the Hamas leader, considered the architect of the unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023 in Israel, marks “the beginning of the end” of the war in Gaza, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Herzi Halevi said the war “would not end” until all those behind the attack were captured and “all the hostages” held in Gaza returned, the two stated goals of Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territory.

A Hamas official said Friday that the Palestinian Islamist movement could “not be eliminated” despite the death of its leaders, without confirming the death of its leader.

“It seems that Israel thinks that killing our leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people,” but “Hamas is a movement led by people seeking freedom and dignity and that cannot be eliminated,” Bassem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told AFP. Hamas.

In a statement, he referred to previous leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement killed by Israel. But “Hamas has become stronger and more popular each time,” he stressed.

Yahya Sinouar, a 61-year-old radical activist, had led Hamas in Gaza since 2017, before being named political leader of the movement in early August after the death of Ismail Haniyeh, killed in Tehran on July 31 in an attack attributed to Israel.

US President Joe Biden hailed, after the announcement of his death, a “good day for Israel, the United States and the world.”

Mr. Biden said he called Netanyahu to congratulate him on the Hamas leader’s death, adding that he “hoped” for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential hopeful, also said his death offered “an opportunity” to “end” the war in Gaza.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the Hamas leader’s death represented an “opportunity” to end military operations.

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In their phone call, Netanyahu and Biden said it was “an opportunity to help free the hostages” and that they would “cooperate” to achieve that.

The Families Forum, the main association of hostage relatives in Israel, “urged that this major step forward be taken to ensure the return” of the remaining captives.

In front of a Tel Aviv morgue, where Sinwar’s body arrived for “further examinations,” according to police, several people danced and sang, according to AFP footage. Among them, Hemda, an Israeli, said she was “happy.”

Photo: Israeli Army vis Agence France-Presse This image extracted from a video filmed by a drone would show Yahya Sinouar just before he was killed.

“Higher speed”

This announcement comes in an explosive context in the Middle East, where Israel has been pounding Hezbollah positions in Lebanon since September 23.

After a year of border firefights, Israel has shifted the bulk of its military operations to Lebanon and launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon against the Lebanese Islamist movement on September 30.

Israel says it wants to neutralize Hezbollah on the border to allow the return to the north of its territory of some 60,000 people displaced over the past year by its rocket fire.

On Thursday evening, Hezbollah announced that it was moving “up a gear” in its war with Israel, claiming to have used precision-guided missiles for the first time to target Israeli soldiers.

The official Lebanese news agency Ani reported on Friday Israeli raids on villages in southern Lebanon overnight, one of which “destroyed the ancient mosque” of Majdel Selm, near the border.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility on Friday for firing “a large salvo of rockets” into northern Israel and had announced during the night after targeting Israeli soldiers near two border villages.

At least 1,418 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally based on official data. The UN has counted nearly 700,000 displaced people.

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Strikes on northern Gaza

In the Gaza Strip, an AFP journalist and the Civil Defense reported several air strikes during the night.

Three children were killed in northern Gaza, according to the Civil Defense, while a drone strike killed two Palestinians in the same area.

The army announced that it was continuing its operations in Jabalia, in the north of the territory, which it has surrounded and pounded since October 6, claiming that Hamas is trying to rebuild its forces there.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) pointed to a “real risk” of famine in the besieged Palestinian territory, accusing “certain members of the Israeli government” of using it “as a weapon of war.”

At least 42,438 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to data from the government’s Health Ministry. Hamas, deemed reliable by the UN.

Iran has assured that the death of Yahya Sinwar will “strengthen the spirit of resistance” for the “liberation” of the occupied territories. “He will become a role model for the youth,” wrote Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York on the social network X, assuring that “the resistance will continue.”

Iran has threatened to attack Israel “painfully” if it hits targets “in Iran or the region,” in response to Tehran’s missile attack on Israeli territory on October 1, to which Israel has promised to respond.