JERUSALEM: Hamas vowed on Friday it would not release the hostages it seized during its October 7 attack on Israel until the Gaza war ends, as it mourned the death of its leader Yahya Sinwar.
The killing of Sinwar, the mastermind of the deadliest attack in Israeli history, had raised hopes of a turning point in the war, including for families of the Israeli hostages and Gazans enduring a dire humanitarian crisis.
However, as Qatar-based Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya mourned Sinwar in a video statement on Friday, he reiterated the group’s position that no hostages would be released “unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops.”
And Israeli forces pummelled Gaza with air strikes on Friday, with rescuers recovering the bodies of three Palestinian children from the rubble of their home in the north of the territory, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.
“We always thought that when this moment arrived the war would end and our lives would return to normal,” Jemaa Abou Mendi, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, told AFP.
“But unfortunately, the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. The war has not stopped, and the killings continue unabated.”
Sinwar was Israel’s most wanted man and his death — announced by the Israeli military on Thursday — deals a major blow to the already weakened group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sinwar’s killing an “important landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamas.”
He added that while it did not spell the end of the war, it was “the beginning of the end.”
After Sinwar’s killing was announced, some hailed the news as a sign of better things to come.
US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israel’s top arms provider, said Sinwar’s death was “an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas.”
Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged Israel’s government and international mediators to leverage “this major achievement to secure hostages’ return.”
“Now that Sinwar is not a formal obstacle in the way of the release of the hostages, it is unacceptable that they would stay in captivity even one more day,” said Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of killed hostage Yoram Metzger.
But she added: “We (are) afraid that Netanyahu does not intend on stopping the war, nor does he intend to bring the hostages back.”
After Sinwar’s death, Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi vowed to keep fighting “until we capture all the terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre and bring all the hostages home.”
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said that “our fight will not stop until Palestine is liberated.”
Hamas sparked the war in Gaza by staging the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
During the attack, militants took 251 hostages back into Gaza. Ninety-seven remain there, including 34 who Israeli officials say are dead.
Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas and bring back the hostages has killed 42,500 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures which the UN considers reliable.
A “conservative” estimate puts the death toll among children in Gaza at over 14,100, said James Elder, spokesman of the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF.
“Gaza is the real-world embodiment of hell on Earth for its one million children,” Elder said on Friday. “And it’s getting worse, day by day.”
Criticism has been mounting over the civilian toll and lack of food and humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, where the UN has warned of famine.
Sinwar was the head of Hamas in Gaza at the time of the October 7 attack, rising to become the group’s overall leader after the killing of its political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in July.
The Israeli military said Sinwar was killed in a firefight in southern Gaza’s Rafah, near the Egyptian border, while being tracked by a drone.
It released drone footage of what it said was Sinwar’s final moments, with the video showing a wounded militant throwing an object at the drone.
It is unclear whether his successor will be named in Qatar, where Hamas’s political leadership has long been based, or in Gaza, the focus of the fighting.
Sinwar’s death created “a leadership vacuum,” Middle East analyst Andreas Krieg of King’s College London said.
Krieg said that next leader was likely to be someone from the operational level of Hamas. But among those on the battlefield, Sinwar’s younger brother Mohammed Sinwar has emerged as a favorite, he added.
Israel is also fighting a war in Lebanon, where Hamas ally Hezbollah opened a front by launching cross-border strikes that forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes.
Israel ramped up its bombardment on September 23 and by the end of the month sent ground troops across the Lebanese border.
On Friday, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon warned that the escalating war “is causing widespread destruction of towns and villages in south Lebanon.”
The UNIFIL mission has accused Israeli troops of firing at its positions in south Lebanon, which Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni branded as “unacceptable” on Friday.
The war since late September has left at least 1,418 people dead in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.
The war has also drawn in other Iran-aligned armed groups, including in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
Iran on October 1 conducted a missile strike on Israel, for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.
Iran, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels all mourned the death of Sinwar, vowing continued support for their Palestinian ally Hamas.
Hamas mourns Sinwar, vows no hostage release until war ends
https://arab.news/bs33u
Hamas mourns Sinwar, vows no hostage release until war ends

- No hostages would be released “unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops“
- “We always thought that when this moment arrived the war would end and our lives would return to normal,” Jemaa Abou Mendi, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, told AFP
Turkiye, Britain sign accord allowing Ankara to be a user of Eurofighter jets

Turkiye has been in talks to purchase 40 of the jets, which are built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, represented by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
Earlier, the Spiegel magazine reported that Germany had also cleared the way for the delivery of 40 jets to Turkiye, following a positive decision by the federal security council.
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 21 people, health authorities say

- Health authorities say Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 people. More than half of those killed late Tuesday and early Wednesday reportedly were women and children
GAZA: Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 people late Tuesday and early Wednesday. More than half of those killed were women and children, health authorities said.
Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive. A breakdown of law and order has led to widespread looting and contributed to chaos and violence around aid deliveries.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the UN human rights office said Tuesday.
More than 100 human rights groups and charities signed a letter published Wednesday demanding more aid for Gaza and warning of grim conditions causing starvation.
More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Here is the latest:
Overnight strikes kill at least 21
One Israeli strike hit a house Tuesday in the northwestern side of Gaza City, killing at least 12 people, according to the Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties.
The dead included six children and two women, according to the Health Ministry’s casualty list.
Another strike hit an apartment in the Tal Al-Hawa area in northern Gaza, killing at least six people. Among the dead were three children and two women, including one who was pregnant. Eight others were wounded, the ministry said.
A third strike hit a tent in the Naser neighborhood in Gaza City late Tuesday and killed three children, Shifa Hospital said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militants operate from populated areas.
Human rights groups and charities demand more Gaza aid
In the letter issued Wednesday by 109 human rights and charity groups, they warned of a dire situation pushing more people toward starvation. They said they were watching their own colleagues, as well as the Palestinians they serve, “waste away.”
The letter slammed Israel for what it said were restrictions on aid into the war-ravaged territory. It lamented “massacres” at food distribution points, which have seen chaos and violence in recent weeks as desperation has risen.
“The government of Israel’s restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death,” the letter said.
The letter called for aid to be scaled up as well as for a ceasefire. `
Israel says that it has allowed the entry of thousands of trucks since May and blames aid groups for not consistently delivering goods.
Egyptian activist locks nation’s embassy gates in The Hague to protest Gaza siege

- Anas Habib accuses Cairo of Rafah crossing closure that prevents aid reaching starving Palestinians
AMSTERDAM: An Egyptian activist on Tuesday locked the outer gates of his country’s embassy in The Hague to protest Cairo’s alleged closure of the Rafah crossing which has prevented aid from entering Gaza for besieged Palestinians.
Livestreaming his actions, content creator and social media personality Anas Habib locked two sets of gates at the embassy with what appears to be bike locks.
Habib said his actions were symbolic and he wanted to draw attention to the ongoing siege of Gaza that was resulting in the starvation of Palestinians.
“It’s been two years of us hearing this same excuse, it’s closed from their side and not ours, they couldn’t handle a lie and a siege for one second, imagine how everyone in Gaza is feeling hearing your lies every day for the past two years,” he said.
“I’ll stay standing here until the police arrive, because I won’t open it until Gaza is opened. Let them break the lock themselves,” Habib said.
There has been no response yet from the Egyptian government to Habib’s actions and the video which has gone viral on social media.
Egypt has reportedly in the past pointed out that the Rafah crossing has been closed on the Gaza side by the Israeli military.
UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’

- In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council urged the 193 United Nations member nations on Tuesday to use all possible means to settle disputes peacefully. The UN chief said that is needed now more than ever as he pointed to “the horror show in Gaza” and conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar.
The vote was unanimous on a Pakistan-drafted resolution in the 15-member council.
In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter.
It is happening at a time of widening geopolitical divides and numerous conflicts, starting with Gaza, where “starvation is knocking on every door” as Israel denies the United Nations the space and safety to deliver aid and save Palestinian lives, Guterres said.
Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and blames UN agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in.
In conflicts worldwide, “hunger and displacement are at record levels” and security is pushed further out of reach by terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime, the secretary-general said.
“Diplomacy may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability,” Guterres said. “But it still holds the power to stop them.”
The resolution urges all countries to use the methods in the UN Charter to peacefully settle disputes, including negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, referral to regional arrangements or other peaceful means.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who chaired the meeting, cited “the ongoing tragedies” in Gaza and between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, one of the oldest disputes on the UN agenda, that need to be resolved peacefully.
“At the heart of almost all the conflicts across the globe is a crisis of multilateralism; a failure, not of principles but of will; a paralysis, not of institutions but of political courage,” he said.
The Pakistani diplomat called for revitalizing trust in the UN system and ensuring “equal treatment of all conflicts based on international law, not geopolitical expediency.”
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the Trump administration supports the United Nations’ founding principles of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war and working with parties to resolve disputes peacefully.
Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, she said, the US has delivered “deescalation” between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Congo and Rwanda.
The US calls on countries involved in conflicts to follow these examples, Shea said, singling out the war in Ukraine and China’s “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea.
The war in Ukraine must end, she said, and Russia must stop attacking civilians and fulfill its obligations under the UN Charter, which requires all member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every other country.
“We call on other UN member states to stop providing Russia with the means to continue its aggression,” Shea said.
Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin

- Ibrahim Majed Ali Nasr was shot by Israeli live ammunition when forces entered the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin city
- His killing raises the Palestinian death toll in Jenin governorate to 43 since the Israeli military assault began on Jan. 21
LONDON: A 16-year-old Palestinian died from injuries sustained earlier on Tuesday evening after being shot by Israeli forces during a raid in the northern occupied West Bank.
Ibrahim Majed Ali Nasr was shot by Israeli live ammunition when forces entered the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin city.
The teenager was shot in the chest, suffering a life-threatening injury, while another young man was injured in the leg, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Nasr was later declared dead at the hospital in Jenin.
Israeli forces raided a house, with no detentions reported, in Qabatiya on Tuesday evening.
Nasr’s killing raises the Palestinian death toll in Jenin governorate to 43 since the Israeli military assault began on Jan. 21. Dozens more have been injured or detained, the Palestine News Agency reported.