Gaza fighting appears likely to continue after Hamas leader Sinwar’s death

Hamas confirmed Friday that its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli forces successful Gaza and reiterated its stance that hostages the militant radical took from Israel a twelvemonth agone volition not beryllium released until determination is simply a cease-fire successful Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops.

The group’s staunch presumption pushed backmost against a connection by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin a time earlier that his country’s subject volition support warring until the hostages are released and volition stay successful Gaza to forestall a severely weakened Hamas from rearming.

The conflicting stands awesome continued heavy absorption connected some sides to ending the war, adjacent arsenic President Joe Biden and different satellite leaders property the lawsuit that Sinwar’s decease is simply a turning constituent that should beryllium utilized to unlock stalled cease-fire negotiations.

The standoff comes arsenic Israel’s warfare with Lebanon’s Hezbollah — a Hamas state backed by Iran — has intensified successful caller weeks.

Hezbollah said Friday it planned to motorboat a caller signifier of warring by sending much guided missiles and exploding drones into Israel. The militant group’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed successful an Israeli airstrike precocious past month, and Israel sent crushed troops into Lebanon earlier this month.

Sinwar, the erstwhile pb of Hamas, died “confronting the concern service until the past infinitesimal of his life,” said his Qatar-based deputy, Khalil al-Hayya, who represented Hamas during respective rounds of cease-fire negotiations. Hamas volition not instrumentality immoderate of the hostages, al-Hayya said, “before the extremity of the aggression connected Gaza and the withdrawal from Gaza.”

Hamas heralded Sinwar successful a statement, calling him a leader for “not retreating, brandishing his weapon, engaging and confronting the concern service astatine the forefront of the ranks.”

The connection appeared to notation to a video the Israeli subject circulated of Sinwar’s evident past moments successful which a antheral sits connected a seat successful severely damaged building, severely wounded and covered successful dust. In the video, the antheral raises his manus and flings a instrumentality astatine an approaching Israeli drone.

Sinwar was the main designer of the Hamas raid connected Israel past twelvemonth that killed immoderate 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped different 250. Israel’s retaliatory violative successful Gaza has killed implicit 42,000 Palestinians, according to section wellness authorities, who bash not separate combatants from civilians but accidental much than fractional the dormant are women and children.

The warfare has destroyed immense swaths of Gaza, displaced astir 90% of its colonisation of 2.3 cardinal radical and has near them struggling to find food, water, medicine and fuel.

Sinwar’s sidesplitting appeared to beryllium a accidental front-line brushwood with Israeli troops connected Wednesday, and it could displacement the dynamics of the Gaza warfare adjacent arsenic Israel presses its violative against Hezbollah with crushed troops successful confederate Lebanon and airstrikes successful different areas of the country.

Hezbollah has fired rockets into Israel astir each time since the Israel-Hamas warfare began, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes successful the country’s north. More than 1 cardinal radical successful Lebanon person been displaced by Israel’s aerial bombardment and crushed offensive.

Iran, which besides supports Hamas, hailed Sinwar Friday arsenic a martyr who tin animate others successful challenging Israel.

“We, and countless others astir the world, salute his selfless conflict for liberation of the Palestinian people,” Iran’s overseas minister, Abbas Araghchi, wrote connected the X societal media platform. “Martyrs unrecorded forever, and the origin for liberation of Palestine from concern is much live than ever.”

Israel has pledged to destruct Hamas politically successful Gaza, and sidesplitting Sinwar was a apical subject priority. But Netanyahu said successful a code announcing the sidesplitting Thursday nighttime that “our warfare is not yet ended.”

Still, the governments of Israel’s allies and exhausted residents of Gaza expressed anticipation that Sinwar’s decease would pave the mode for an extremity to the war.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday Sinwar’s decease provides “an bonzer accidental to execute a lasting cease-fire” and suggested the U.S. could person a relation successful helping to stabilize Gaza successful the future. “Hopefully countries successful the portion volition measurement up there,” Austin said astatine a NATO gathering successful Brussels.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, gathering with her counterpart successful Lebanon, said European countries are moving for a “sustainable cease-fire” successful some that state and successful Gaza. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said “a diplomatic solution should overcome” the fighting.

But a time aft Biden labeled Sinwar’s decease an “opportunity for a ‘day after’ successful Gaza without Hamas successful power,” helium acknowledged the trouble of forging a cease-fire there, saying it mightiness beryllium easier to negociate a halt to the warring successful Lebanon.

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“It’s going to beryllium harder successful Gaza,” Biden told reporters Friday aft gathering with European leaders successful Berlin.

A White House nationalist information spokesman, John Kirby, said it was “too soon” to measure who Hamas “might anoint arsenic Sinwar’s successor and what that idiosyncratic whitethorn beryllium consenting to pursue.”

In Israel, families of hostages inactive held successful Gaza demanded the Israeli authorities usage Sinwar’s sidesplitting arsenic a mode to restart negotiations to bring location their loved ones. There are astir 100 hostages remaining successful Gaza, astatine slightest 30 of whom Israel says are dead.

“We are astatine an inflection constituent wherever the goals acceptable for the warfare with Gaza person been achieved, each but the merchandise of the hostages,”

Ronen Neutra, begetter of the Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, said successful a video statement. “Sinwar, who was described arsenic a large obstacle to a deal, is nary longer alive.”

Netanyahu was readying to convene a peculiar gathering Friday to sermon hostage negotiations, an Israeli authoritative with cognition of the negotiations said. The authoritative spoke connected the information of anonymity to sermon confidential information.

Israel’s subject said Friday it allowed 30 trucks of food, water, aesculapian and different supplies into bluish Gaza, arsenic the state faces unit from the U.S. to ramp up aid. There was nary contiguous confirmation from the U.N. that the assistance arrived and was being distributed successful the north.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah issued a connection aboriginal Friday saying its fighters person utilized caller types of precision-guided missiles and explosive drones against Israel for the archetypal clip successful caller days.

The connection appeared to notation to an explosives-laden drone that evaded Israel’s multilayered air-defense strategy and slammed into a messiness hallway astatine a subject grooming campy heavy wrong Israel past Sunday, sidesplitting 4 soldiers and wounding dozens. The radical announced earlier this week it fired a caller benignant of rocket called Qader 2 toward the suburbs of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli subject said Friday it would activate an further reserve brigade to the northbound of its state to enactment troops battling successful confederate Lebanon. The Lebanese wellness ministry said six radical were killed successful the past 24 hours of fighting, bringing the decease toll implicit the past twelvemonth to 2,418, a 4th of whom were women and children.

On Friday Israel said its forces killed 2 militants who crossed into Israeli territory southbound of the Dead Sea from neighboring Jordan. Such infiltrations are comparatively rare, particularly arsenic Israel has ramped up borderline information since the Hamas onslaught successful October 2023.

Sewell reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Bassem Mroue successful Beirut, Jon Gambrell successful Jerusalem and Josh Boak successful Berlin contributed to this story.