IDF Kills Sinwar: A Blow for Iran, Triumph for Israelis and Palestinians

Israeli soldiers who killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on October 17 brought justice to the architect of the October 7 attack and a man chiefly responsible for the suffering of countless Israelis and Palestinians. Sinwar’s death marks a significant milestone in the war and another severe blow for Iran’s regional proxy network. It also demonstrates that Israel was right, despite U.S. criticisms, to mount a ground operation into Rafah, where Sinwar was found, and use a strategy of re-entering previously cleared areas to find and fix reconstituted elements of Hamas.

However, Sinwar’s death was not the goal of Israeli operations in Gaza and will not end the war. President Joe Biden’s message that it is now time to “move on” to a ceasefire downplays the necessity of continued Israeli operations in Gaza and beyond to return the hostages and to ensure another attack like October 7 cannot happen again. Instead of U.S. officials pushing Israel to end the war, ensuring it has the capabilities necessary to target threats and U.S. pressure on Iran and its terrorist proxies would make achieving these objectives more likely.

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