mission accomplished for Israel, what now?

mission accomplished for Israel, what now?

And three. After killing Mohamed Deif and Ismaïl Haniyeh, respectively military and political leaders of Hamas, in July 2024, the Israeli army eliminated its number 1 enemy: Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the massacres of October 7, 2023. The announcement of the The death of the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the “head” he lacked in his war against the Palestinian Islamist movement, and allows him to claim victory after a year of conflict.

“The death of Yahya Sinwar is Israel’s greatest achievement since the start of this war, it is even greater than the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah (former leader of Hezbollah assassinated on September 27, 2023 in Beirut),” underlined Michael Milstein, former Israeli intelligence officer, now director of the Center for Palestinian Studies at the Moshe Dayan Institute, on CNN, Thursday October 17. From the tunnels of Gaza and the suburbs of Rafah, the 61-year-old Islamist militant was not only a “symbolic leader” but “the dominant decision-maker” in defining how to conduct the war, organize the Hamas regime and to manage negotiations with the Jewish State. This is why, in the days to come, Israel has the opportunity to reach an agreement. “Benjamin Netanyahu now has an opening to announce a victory and allow the release of the hostages,” continued Michael Milstein.

97 hostages still missing

A perspective shared by Israel Katz, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Jewish state. “The elimination of Sinwar creates opportunities to immediately release the hostages and bring about change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza, without Hamas and without Iranian control.” In total, of the 251 hostages (mostly Israeli) kidnapped on October 7, 2023, 97 are still missing and 34 were declared dead by the IDF, the Israeli army.

In response, Washington, Berlin and Paris launched similar calls, citing “opportunities” and “opportunities” to be seized to end the war which has lasted for more than a year in the Palestinian enclave. If the operation carried out by the Israeli army in response to the pogrom of October 7, 2023 made it possible, according to it, to neutralize 17,000 Hamas fighters and to overcome around twenty of the 24 battalions of the Palestinian Islamist movement, the results civilian casualties is appalling. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, under the control of Hamas but whose figures are considered “reliable” by the UN, more than 42,400 Palestinians were killed by IDF bombings, the majority civilians, without count the tens of thousands of victims still trapped in the rubble.

“This war can end tomorrow”

“This is not the end of the war in Gaza, it is the beginning of the end,” declared the Israeli Prime Minister in a video, the same evening as the death of Yahya Sinwar was announced. “I have a simple message to send to the people of Gaza. This war can end tomorrow. It can end if Hamas lays down its arms and returns our hostages. Israel will guarantee the safety of anyone who returns our hostages,” he promised.

After his total victory over the instigators of the October 7 massacres, Benjamin Netanyahu is at a crossroads. The 74-year-old leader is caught in a vice. On the one hand, international pressure calling for a ceasefire is increasing. On the other hand, the messianic pushes of the far-right ministers of his government coalition, including Itamar Ben-Gvir (for National Security) and Bezalel Smotrich (for Finance), continue. The latter are in favor of recolonization of the Palestinian enclave and refuse any agreement with Hamas. At the risk of endless war.

With Hamas weakened in Gaza, Israel concentrates its forces on the Lebanese front in its war with Hezbollah. On October 18, the IDF deployed additional troops to its border with the Land of Cedar. Since the start of the Israeli army’s ground offensive in southern Lebanon on September 30, 2024, the provisional report from the Lebanese Ministry of Health shows more than 2,300 deaths and 1.2 million displaced people.

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