It's amazing how good their intelligence now works after the October 7 tragedy where they failed big time. They must have spies at the highest levels in many countries.
Sinwar was most uncompromising leader Hamas could have chosen.
Sinwar was open about his differences with the Hamas leadership abroad, and it is widely believed that he did not keep them informed about the details of the 7 October attack.

Israel confirms Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel had “settled its account” with “the person who carried out the worst massacre in the history of our people since the Holocaust.”

Netanyahu said the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was an “important moment in the war” to bring home the hostages being held in Gaza. He also said anyone who surrendered weapons and assisted with the return of the hostages would be allowed to leave Gaza safely.

Still, he added, “our war has not yet ended.”

https://apnews.com/article/israel-p...17-2024-d12ca71945313e601cf10876072f4182

From: BBC October 18, 2024
Sinwar's death is serious blow to Hamas, but not the end of the war

Every leader of Hamas since the 1990s has been killed by Israel, but there's always been a successor. As Israel celebrates killing Sinwar:
1. Hamas still has its hostages
2. and is still fighting

Killing Yahya Sinwar is Israel's biggest victory so far in the war against Hamas in Gaza.

His death is a serious blow for Hamas, the organisation he turned into a fighting force that inflicted the biggest defeat on the state of Israel, in its history.

according to the BBC:
He was not killed in a planned special forces operation, but in a chance encounter with Israeli forces in Rafah in southern Gaza.

A photo taken at the scene shows Sinwar, dressed in combat gear, lying dead in the rubble of a building that was hit by a tank shell.

In his 20s, he was convicted by Israel of killing four Palestinian informers.
During 22 years in jail he learnt Hebrew, studied his enemy and believed that he worked out how to fight them.

His time in jail also meant Israel had his dental records and a sample of his DNA, which meant that they could identify his body.

Sinwar was released as one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who were swapped in 2011 for a single Israel soldier, Gilad Shalit.

On 7 October last year, in a meticulously planned series of attacks, Sinwar and his men inflicted Israel's worst-ever defeat - and a collective trauma that is still deeply felt.

The killing of around 1,200 Israelis, the hostage-taking and the celebrations of their enemies recalled for many Israelis the Nazi holocaust.

Sinwar's own experience in a prisoner swap must have convinced him of the value and power of taking hostages.

Israel's security failures allowed Sinwar and his men, to break into Israel
Prime minister Netanyahu insists that only what he calls 'total victory' in Gaza over Hamas will restore Israeli security.

He has repeated his war aims many times
1. destroying Hamas as a military and political force
2. and bringing the hostages home.

Neither has been achieved, despite a year of war that has killed at least 42,000 Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins. But
1. the remaining hostages are not free
2. Hamas is still fighting
3. and sometimes killing Israeli troops.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, praised the soldiers and made clear that however big a victory, it was not the end of the war.

"Today we made clear once again what happens to those who harm us.
Today we once again showed the world the victory of good over evil.

"But the war, my dear ones, is not over yet. It is difficult, and it is costing us dearly."

"Great challenges still lie ahead of us. We need endurance, unity, courage, and steadfastness.
Together we will fight, and with God's help - together we will win."

Netanyahu and the overwhelming proportion of Israelis who support the war in Gaza needed a victory.

Like other news organisations, Israel does not let the BBC cross into Gaza except on rare, supervised trips with the army.

In the ruins of Khan Yunis, the birthplace of Sinwar, Palestinians interviewed for the BBC by local trusted freelancers were defiant.
They said the war would go on.

"This war is not dependent on Sinwar, Haniyeh, or Mishal, nor on any leader or official," said Dr Ramadan Faris.

"It's a war of extermination against the Palestinian people, as we all know and understand.
The issue is much bigger than Sinwar or anyone else."

Adnan Ashour said some people were saddened, and others were indifferent about Sinwar.

"They're not just after us. They want the entire Middle East. They're fighting in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen...
This is a war between us and the Jews since 1919 over 100 years."

He was asked whether the death of Sinwar would affect Hamas.
"I hope not, God willing. Let me explain: Hamas is not just Sinwar... It's the cause of a people."

Some moderate people within Hamas are probably relieved Sinwar is gone, if they continue this war there will be nothing left of Gaza.
Sinwar is responsible for so much bloodshed in Israel but also Gaza, with those kind of people the Palestinians are doomed unless they go negotiate with Israel.

Who will be the next terrorists Hamas leader, even more evil, even more ruthless, to shed even more blood and wield even more terror --
from the production line! churning out dime a dozen!

Who could take over as the next Hamas leader?
The Telegraph by Jotam Confino 17 October 2024


The key figures believed to be in the running to replace Yahya Sinwar are as follows:

Extracts:

• Khaled Meshaal

Khaled Meshaal, the former leader of Hamas Recycle! is perhaps the only person who could fill Sinwar’s shoes and govern the terror group effectively, albeit from abroad and not inside Gaza

This means that Meshaal would likely be appointed the political leader and continue to reside in Qatar

Meshaal was named Hamas’ political leader in 1996
A year later, Meshaal survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Amman, Jordan when Mossad agents poisoned him

• Khalil al-Hayya

Deputy Khalil al-Hayya 64 began his career in Hamas in 2006 and slowly rose in the ranks
al-Hayya was elected the deputy leader of Hamas’s Gaza regional politburo in 2017 a position that he still holds

Like Meshaal, Hayya resides in Qatar and has been Hamas’ main point man on the ceasefire negotiations
al-Hayya is one of the most senior figures alive and is a likely candidate for the position as political leader

• Mohammed Sinwar

Yahya Sinwar’s brother, Mohammed, is still believed to be alive, hiding from Israeli forces in Gaza

Mohammed is considered a key strategist in Hamas’ operations inside Gaza

Mohammed was appointed as commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis brigade in 2005 and took part in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006 from Israel into Gaza

Yahya's brother currently commands Hamas’ southern brigade and is a member of the military council of the group’s military wing

Israel is offering a £230,000 bounty for any information leading to Mohammed who has escaped six assassination attempts, earning him the nickname “the living dead”

• Moussa Abu Marzouk

Moussa Abu Marzouk is amongst the founders of Hamas and was elected the group’s first political leader in 1992

Marzouk has lived in several countries over the years, including the US where he was jailed for 22 months

Marzouk was later expelled from both Jordan and Syria, and currently resides in Qatar
In 2013 Marzouk was appointed a deputy under Meshaal, tasked with handling all external issues of Hamas

Marzouk has given several interviews to Israeli media since October 7, 2023 often downplaying the atrocities and refusing to admit the mass killing of civilians

Wow! 1,027 murderous Palestinian prisoners for One Israeli soldier

Ref: Wikipedia

• Corporal Gilad Shalit

Shalit born 28 August 1986 is a former MIA soldier of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who, on 25 June 2006 was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid via tunnels near the Israeli border

Hamas held Shalit captive for over five years until his release on 18 October 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal

Shalit held the rank of Corporal in the IDF's Armor Corps at the time of his capture and Shalit was subsequently promoted to Staff Sergeant and Sergeant First Class just before his release

Shalit holds dual Israeli and French citizenship, the latter via his grandmother

Shalit was eventually released in a negotiated agreement, securing his freedom after more than five years in isolation and captivity

In exchange 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released, some of whom were convicted of multiple murders and carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians

According to Israeli government sources, these released prisoners were collectively responsible for 569 Israeli deaths

Why Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to an unsavory 2011 prisoner swap deal for Gilad Shalit
The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick 12 October 2011

Then and Now....

Extracts:

• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's 2011 unsavory deal in the end, highlights Netanyahu's pragmatism

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was opposed in principle to Corporal Gilad Shalit prisoner swap but his willingness to make an unsavory deal in the end highlights his pragmatism

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s deal with Hamas to swap 1,027 murderous Palestinian prisoners, to free Corporal Gilad Shalit from imprisonment in Gaza, highlights the Israeli leader’s frequently overlooked pragmatism

Even amid images of Hamas’ victory celebrations in Gaza and the risk of releasing militants serving terms for terrorist attacks, the Israeli leader broke with his no-compromise approach to terrorism by siding with Israeli public sentiment that is overwhelmingly sympathetic with Shalit’s plight

Yossi Klein Halevy, a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem says,
As the Israeli media hailed the news of Shalit’s release, the head of the Shin Bet security agency, Yoram Cohen, told journalists,

Hezbollah's launching new escalatory terror phase against Israel
Al Arabiya 16 October 2024

Extracts:

• Hezbollah's launching new escalatory terror phase against Israel

Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Thursday said it was launching a new phase in its war against Israel, saying it has used precision-guided missiles against troops for the first time.

In Lebanese border villages, the rivals have engaged in close-range combat after Israel launched a ground invasion last month.

in a statement Hezbollah,
The announcement came after the Israeli military on Thursday said its forces killed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, which is a Hezbollah ally The statement however made no mention of the Hamas chief

Hezbollah noting that attacks against Israel have increased in recent days - said,
Israel killed Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut air strike on September 27, 2024

Israel has repeatedly called for Hezbollah to be pushed away from the border to ensure its citizens could return to their homes in northern Israel

Earlier on Thursday, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said,

After Sinwar killed, IDF says hunt still on for his brother and all Hamas military chiefs

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-october-18-2024/

Sinwar, the refugee who became a cruel, violent Hamas terrorist

Yahya Sinwar spent two decades in Israeli prisons studying the country and trying to identify its weaknesses before emerging to assemble a powerful militia dedicated to toppling it.

Why so many for one soldier

At the time a poll showed 79% of Israelis supporting the deal, with 14% opposed. Among those released were militants involved in planning and executing suicide bombings in restaurants and on buses during the years of the second Palestinian uprising, which began in 2000.

Ward Carroll YouTube Channel



On October 16 US Central Command said that US Air Force and US Navy assets, including the B-2 Spirit long-range bomber, had struck five underground weapons facilities in areas of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia.

While not explicitly mentioned in the statement, it’s reasonable to assume the use of the B-2 in Yemen is also a signal to Iran, the weapons sponsor of the Houthis, that their underground nuclear facilities can be reached by the American military.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, on October 17, the IDF inadvertently took out Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a skirmish in the Gaza Strip. Israeli intel had a lead that he was in Rafah at the southern end of Gaza, but they weren’t sure exactly where he was. Sinwar and several other Hamas militants opened fire on the Israelis. The IDF troops returned fire using a tank and mortars, blowing the side out of the building Sinwar was hiding in.

Sinwar is the fourth member of Hamas leadership the IDF has assassinated since the October 7 attacks.

The Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023 They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors

what were the B-2s waiting for?

ABC news October 19, 2024
"The spirit of resistance will be strengthened" Iran tells UN "when Muslims look up to martyr Sinwar standing on the battlefield — in combat attire and out in the open, not in a hideout, facing the enemy — the spirit of resistance will be strengthened"

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, which has hailed Sinwar as a martyr who can inspire others in challenging Israel.

Iran's mission to the United Nations issued a statement honouring Sinwar, emphasising that he died on the battlefield and not in hiding. How such statement honouring terrorist leader allowed

The UN in its current form,
1. must be a casualty of this horrid war
2. and is complicit in not enforcing Resolution 1701
3. Hezbollah never disarmed; rather, it has grown freely.
4. 18 years on, raising concerns about the effectiveness of UN resolutions aimed at disarming terror outfits

?United? antisemitism Nations

The war in Gaza is not over … but we are nearing the beginning of the end

With Yahya Sinwar’s death,
1. Israel is stronger
2. Hamas is on the way out
3. and Hezbollah and the Houthis with them
4. Iran is in deep trouble … but highly dangerous

Those terrorists, you know, they're lunatics

Hezbollah drone targets Netanyahu’s house in Caesarea; PM, wife not home, no injuries

Two other drones from Lebanon shot down; residents reported hearing buzzing sound before large explosion, no warning sirens sounded; rockets fired at targets across northern Israel

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbo...n-caesarea-pm-wife-not-home-no-injuries/

Breaking: Iran's official IRGC Quds Forces Telegram channel published this photo, showing a direct hit at @netanyahu's residence.

They are taking pride in their assassination attempt… Does Khamenei's residence have similar bulletproof windows? We will learn soon . . .

https://x.com/DrEliDavid/status/1847625164638314647

https://x.com/Israel/status/1847585107537703321

A Palestinian driver swerved into a parked armored police vehicle at high speed on Saturday in a suspected car-ramming attack in the West Bank, police said.

The driver was killed in the incident, and no police officers were wounded.

Security camera footage showed the car speed toward an armored vehicle and a police patrol car, as a number of officers stood around. Right before the car rammed into the police vehicle, a seemingly unaware officer stepped out of the way of the vehicle, narrowly missing being hit.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/car-r...uspected-west-bank-attack-no-casualties/

Still these 1,027 murderous Palestinian prisoners were collectively responsible for 569 Israeli deaths

Then and Now.... indeed

From: Reuters October 18, 2024
After Sinwar's death, Israel aims to lock in strategic gains before US election

The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip, marked a major triumph for Israel.

But Israeli leaders are also seeking to lock in strategic gains that go beyond military victories – to reshape the regional landscape in Israel's favour and shield its borders from any future attacks, sources familiar with their thinking say.

With U.S. elections approaching, Israel is rushing to inflict maximum damage on Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and seizing the moment to carve out de facto buffer zones in a bid to create an irreversible reality before a new president takes office in January, eight sources told Reuters.

By intensifying its military operations against Hezbollah and Hamas, Israel wants to ensure that its enemies and their chief patron, Iran, don’t regroup and threaten Israeli citizens again, according to Western diplomats, Lebanese and Israeli officials, and other regional sources.

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to use Sinwar’s killing to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wind down the war in Gaza.

But the Israeli leader may prefer to wait out the end of Biden’s term and take his chances with the next president, whether the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, or Republican rival Donald Trump, with whom Netanyahu has had close ties.

From: ABC News October 19, 2024

Diminished, wounded and half-crumpled in a sofa chair amidst the rubble of a Gaza living room, Yahya Sinwar had time to take in the reality of his final moments alive.

Drone footage taken by Israeli forces shows the Hamas leader's final act of defiance was the forlorn flinging of a random stick at the buzzing machine. He missed.

A short time later Israel killed the man at the top of its most-wanted list;
the terrorist who masterminded the atrocities of October 7, 2023 in the hope it would unleash a regional "flood" of devastation against the hated Zionist state.

While the conflict is not over, Sinwar's decision to send thousands of Hamas fighters into Israel now looks like one of the greatest miscalculations of our time.

It has wrought,
1. untold civilian deaths in Israel,
2. on his own people in Gaza
3. and now Lebanon.
4. It blooded a new generation in an age-old battle.

But more significantly, the stunning news of Sinwar's death has delivered a palpable sense of an inflection point reached.

It allows for the possibility, difficult to stomach given the costs that led to this point, that the human agonies of the past 12 months might now give way to something more hopeful.

From: Firstpost October 19, 2024
Defiant martyr or defeated terrorist?

Israeli footage of Yahya Sinwar's last moments sparks debate

Sinwar's supporters see it as proof that he died fighting, refusing to surrender.
Died as he vowed to, on the battlefield, portraying him as a heroic figure.

“By broadcasting the last minutes of Yahya Sinwar’s life, the occupation made his life longer than the lives of his killers,” wrote Egyptian journalist Osama Gaweesh on social media.

Prominent Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa argued that Israel’s attempt to demoralise Palestinians had backfired. “In reality, the footage immortalizes Sinwar and galvanizes all of us to have courage and resolve until the last moment,” she wrote on X.

further on the folly of the colonizer's mentality:
1. They thought that publishing footage of Sinwar's last moments would demoralize us, make us feel defeat.
2. In reality, the footage immortalizes Sinwar and galvanizes all of us to have courage and resolve until the last moment.
3. The footage showed the epic heroism and defiance of an unbroken man, even after they broke his body.
4. It showed a leader fighting alongside his men on the front lines against Zionist barbarism.

It showed the world what indigenous resistance looks like—a native son, mulatham in a kufiyyeh, with a severed arm and busted leg, fighting one armed until his final breath.

No words can capture the pride and renewed resolve that emerges from our heartbreak to resist them until their malignant ideology is gone from this earth.

In Gaza, reactions were more mixed:
Some mourned his death, while others hoped it could bring an end to the war that began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Yet, in Khan Younis, Sinwar’s birthplace, mourners gathered in a bombed-out mosque to recite funeral prayers for him, even though Israel has retained his body.

For many, his death on the battlefield, rather than hidden in a tunnel (as Israel alleged he had been for months), elevated him to the status of a martyr.

Middle East: Netanyahu says Hezbollah tried to kill him
Published 24 hours agoPublished 24 hours agolast updated 2 hours agolast updated 2 hours ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah would pay a "heavy price" for launching a drone targeting his house. Meanwhile, Hamas officials said dozens were killed in strikes in Gaza. DW has the latest.

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Hezbollah for a drone strike targeting his house in the Mediterranean coastal town of Caesarea.

"The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake," Netanyahu wrote on X.

The attack came after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this week and Hezbollah vowed to escalate fighting against Israel.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 73 people were killed in strikes that hit several houses in a town in northern Gaza Saturday evening.

Who will lead Hamas after Sinwar?
The assassination confronts militant group with crucial strategic choice at its weakest point in two decades

The choice will inevitably be a statement on the group’s wartime goals, with repercussions for how it approaches ceasefire and hostage negotiations. “Hamas now has to decide if it wants to keep with this kind of strong ideological figure who was regarded as more hardline like Sinwar, or?.?.?.?shift back to a more moderate [or] pragmatic [one] like Haniyeh

Within Gaza, Hamas’s new leader might come from Yahya Sinwar’s own family. His younger brother Mohammad has risen up Hamas’ ranks to become a top commander in its Qassam Brigades in Gaza, analysts said, and is a likely candidate to take the reins on the political side. 

“The Hamas military wing in Gaza is the main Hamas body that requires leadership in Gaza right now,” said Ibrahim Dalalsha, director of the Ramallah-based Horizon Center for Political Studies. The younger Sinwar “could be de facto number one, but aided by other senior commanders”. 

The other top Hamas commander in Gaza is Izz al-Din al-Haddad, according to Guy Aviad, a former history department official in the Israeli military who has written about Hamas. 

Haddad, known as Abu Suhaib, was commander of Hamas brigade in Gaza City and has taken charge of all Hamas’ operation in the north of the strip, said Aviad. Mohammad Sinwar, he added, was controlling operations in Gaza’s south.

The Gaza War Has Jump-Started a Weakened al-Qaeda !

https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/gaza-war-has-jump-started-weakened-al-qaeda

I forgot about him, one of the originals born in Egypt.

Unofficially, Saif al-Adel is known to have taken the reins, but AQ’s handling of the transition has been rather embarrassing. The group is hiding his status due in part to the fact that he is currently based in Iran, a supposed ideological rival of AQ. Moreover, disclosing the activities that he and the rest of the leadership circle are conducting in Afghanistan would contradict the group’s Taliban partners, who have continually gaslighted the international community by claiming that AQ has no presence there.

Remember.

By the early nineties, Saif is thought to have then traveled to southern Lebanon with Abu Talha al-Sudani, Saif al-Islam al-Masri, Abu Ja`far al-Masri, and Abu Salim al-Masri, where they trained alongside Hezbollah Al-Hejaz