Renewed Calls for Cease-Fire after Israel Kills Hamas Leader

Deutsche Welle

18 Oct 2024, 13:40

Photo: Ariel Schalit/AP Photo/picture alliance

World leaders are calling for a redoubled push to end the Israel-Hamas war and for the hostages to be brought back home after Israel said it killed Hamas' October 7 mastermind in Gaza.

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US President Biden expected to renew Gaza cease-fire calls on Berlin visit
US President Joe Biden is expected to renew calls for a cease-fire in Gaza on Friday as he meets with key European allies in Berlin — a day after Israel said it killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Biden landed in the German capital on Thursday night local time ahead of talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Before leaving Washington, Biden said: "There is now the opportunity for a 'day after' in Gaza without Hamas in power and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike."

He said Sinwar, who Israel holds responsible for orchestrating the October 7 terror attacks, had been an obstacle to a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza and called his death a "good day."

Chancellor Scholz, speaking in Brussels on Thursday, said: "There is a proposal from President Biden and others as to what such a ceasefire could look like and we fully support that."

Germany's Foreign Ministry on Thursday evening stated reports of Sinwar's death, calling for the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and for the militant group to "lay down its weapons."

"The suffering of the people in Gaza must finally end," it added.

Some 100 hostages abducted on October 7 are still thought to be held in Gaza.

There were celebrations across Israel on Thursday night following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

One video showed people clapping and whistling in a residential area in the southern town of Ashdod while another showed jubilant beachgoers responding to a loudspeaker announcement.

Relatives of the 101 hostages who are still being held in Gaza welcomed the news but also renewed demands to bring their relatives home.

"We settled the score with mass murderer Sinwar but ... there will be no real closure, there will be no total victory, if we don't save lives and bring them home," Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still being held captive in Gaza, told the Jerusalem Post.

In a post on social media addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he added: "Don't bury the hostages. Go now to the negotiators and the Israeli public and present a new Israeli initiative."

Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel's National Security Council, told Israeli Channel 12 News that Israel must use Sinwar's death to present its conditions for ending the wars on both fronts.

"The opportunity to end the war entirely, as well as in Lebanon ... is entirely in our hands," he said.

In a video message, Netanyahu said: "While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it's the beginning of the end."

He had earlier called Sinwar's death an "important landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamas" but warned: "The war ... is not over yet."

As promised, we settled the score with Sinwar: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu

53 minutes ago53 minutes ago
Who was Hamas leader Sinwar?
Yahya Sinwar had been the leader of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip since 2017.

He was considered to have orchestrated the October 7 terror attacks on Israel in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and another 250 taken hostage, prompting Israeli retaliation and the ongoing conflict across the region.

After the Israeli military killed Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran in August, Sinwar, considered more radical than Haniyeh, also took over that role — although he hadn't actually been seen in public since October 7.

Sinwar was born in 1962 in southern Gaza's Khan Younis refugee camp. His family hailed from the area around the coastal town of Ashkelon, which is now part of Israeli territory.

When Hamas was formed during the first Palestinian uprising, the Intifada, at the end of the 1980s in the fight against Israeli occupation, Sinwar contributed to setting up Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades.

In the early years of Hamas' existence, he was responsible for the fight against individuals within the organization's own ranks suspected of collaborating with Israel. He was later handed four life sentences for killing two Israeli soldiers and several Palestinians who he suspected of collaboration.

Sinwar spent more than 20 years in Israeli prison, during which he is said to have learned Hebrew. He was released in 2011 by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a prisoner exchange.

When Sinwar was made Hamas head in July, Kobi Michael from the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, told DW he was popular among many Palestinians and seen as the "spearhead of armed resistance" against Israel.

Sinwar was considered a terrorist by the US and the European Union and was Israel's most-wanted man in Gaza, he added.

Australia calls for 'return of hostages', 'humanitarian support for civilians'
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday joined the international community in renewing his call for return of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 2023 and kept in Gaza.

"He was an enemy of the Israeli people and an enemy of peace-loving people everywhere," Albanese said of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. "His death is a significant moment and can be a vital turning point in this devastating conflict."

He called for "urgent humanitarian support for civilians in Gaza and a cease-fire that will break the cycle of violence and put the region on the path to an enduring two state solution."

Meanwhile Australia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said, "His death must enable the end of the war."

Wong reiterated the nation's support for a two-state solution and called for an immediate cease-fire which would allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

Hezbollah threatens 'new phase' in Israel attacks
Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah said it was launching a new, escalated phase in its war against Israel, saying that it used precision-guided missiles against troops for the first time.

This came a few hours after Israel confirmed the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Hezbollah "announces a transition to a new and escalatory phase in the confrontation with the Israeli enemy, which will be reflected in the developments and events of the coming days," the group said in a statement.

The Iran-backed militant arm of Hezbollah is in the EU’s list of terrorist organizations. The group has been striking Israel intermittently for years, and more frequently amid the conflict in Gaza in the last year. However conflict in Lebanon has escalated over the last month to a larger scale with Israel launching military operations in the south.

Hezbollah said "hundreds of fighters...are fully prepared to counter any Israeli ground incursion into southern Lebanese villages."

It also said that its missile strikes against Israel continued "to escalate day by day," with "precision-guided ones ... being deployed for the first time."

Meanwhile, Iran said "the spirit of resistance will be strengthened" after Sinwar's killing.

Hope for cease-fire after Hamas leader's death, Netanyahu says hostages must be freed
Yahya Sinwar — who Israel says orchestrated the Palestinian militant group Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 — was killed during an Israeli military operation, Israeli authorities said after carrying out a DNA test on Thursday.

World leaders were quick to voice hope it could mark a turning point in Israel's war against Hamas.

Former Israeli intelligence official Avi Melamed told DW that Sinwar's death may raise hopes of bringing home Israeli hostages held by militants in Gaza.

"Sinwar was a major obstacle for ending the war" in Gaza because he didn't move the slightest on the issue of releasing hostages, Melamed said.

Within hours of Sinwar's reported death, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for Hamas to immediately release all hostages and surrender so that the war could be brought to an end.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris compared the killing to that of Osama bin Laden, saying "there is now the opportunity for a 'day after' in Gaza without Hamas in power."

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would continue fighting until the hostages were brought home.

"Today we have settled the score. Today evil has been dealt a blow but our task has still not been completed," Netanyahu said. He did however also say that the war in Gaza "can end tomorrow" if the hostages are released and Hamas disarms.

The European Union as well as the United States, Germany and several other countries classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.

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