Israel said to view Sinwar’s death as singular opportunity to advance hostage deal
Families demand progress after Hamas leader’s death, say there will be no victory without loved ones’ return; Hawkish Tikva Forum calls for increased military pressure
Families of hostages held captive in Gaza on Thursday welcomed the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar while urging the government to leverage his death to secure an immediate deal for the release of their loved ones after over a year in captivity.
Reacting to the killing of the terror chief, the Hostages Families Forum expressed “appreciation for the significant achievement” but said it still had “grave concern for the fate of the 101 hostages who are still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.” As such, it called on the government to “leverage the military achievement to secure an immediate deal to bring about their return.”
The comments came amid reports that Israeli hostage negotiators were engaged in intensive discussions on revitalizing the long-stalled talks, viewing the Hamas leader’s death as a unique and potentially brief opportunity to finally secure a deal.
“New ideas are being floated. We need to act fast and we will,” a senior official told Channel 12.
Sinwar was widely seen as a major obstacle to a deal, unwilling to compromise on stiff demands unacceptable to Israel that contributed to negotiations repeatedly hitting brick walls over the past year.
According to multiple reports in Hebrew media outlets Thursday, Israeli officials hoped the blow to Hamas morale and disorientation caused by Sinwar’s demise could encourage his successors to reach a deal to ensure their survival, or push operatives holding hostages to hand them in.
Apparently seeking to motivate such action, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and others urged Hamas men on Thursday evening to hand in hostages to save themselves.
Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden agreed during a call Thursday night that there was an opportunity now to move toward a hostage deal, and that they would work together to achieve one, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
In a recording aired by Channel 12 Thursday evening, Gallant told relatives of hostages he believed Sinwar’s death would help advance a deal.
The families forum said: “For over a year now, the Israeli government has not been able to leverage the unprecedented security achievements in the fighting in Gaza to bring about the release of the hostages.”
“The elimination of Sinwar is an important milestone on the way to the real victory, which will only be achieved with the return of the 101 abductees,” the statement continued. “There isn’t and will not be a total victory without the release of all 101 abductees.”
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is captive in Gaza, warned that “Israel may have settled the score with the arch-murdered Sinwar, but now, more than ever, the lives of my son Matan and other hostages are in tangible danger.”
Recalling that “Netanyahu, Gallant and the chief of staff have already said themselves that Hamas has been defeated militarily,” Zangauker appealed for them to “leverage the achievements and translate the elimination [of Sinwar] into a political development that will bring our loved ones home.”
She warned if the government did not take this step, it would be proof that Netanyahu “has decided to abandon” her son and the other 100 hostages “with the aim of prolonging the war and consolidating his rule.”
Without citing sources, Hebrew media outlets reported Thursday that security officials now believed Sinwar had previously been hiding with the six hostages whose bodies were recovered by the IDF on August 31 after they were executed.
Channel 12’s Nir Dvori said it is thought that as military forces neared his location, Sinwar ordered the six killed before fleeing.
Sinwar was killed on Wednesday in an exchange of fire with IDF forces in Gaza’s Rafah, apparently after emerging from a hiding place in the Strip’s underground tunnels. The military did not target him and did not know it had killed him until approaching the body after the firefight.
Officials assured hostages’ families Thursday that there was no indication that any hostages had been in Sinwar’s vicinity when he died.
Speaking to Channel 13 from a protest in Tel Aviv, Zangauker addressed Netanyahu with additional remarks.
“Prime Minister, since October 7, you have been saying that Sinwar is the obstacle to a deal,” she said. “Now that he is eliminated, it is time for you to show leadership, put a new proposal on the table and bring Matan and all the hostages home. No more excuses.”
"ראש הממשלה, מאז שבעה באוקטובר אתה אומר שסינוואר הוא המכשול לעסקה. עכשיו כשהוא חוסל זה הזמן שלך לגלות מנהיגות, לשים יוזמה חדשה על השולחן ולהחזיר את מתן ואת כל החטופים הביתה. נגמרו התירוצים".
עינב צנגאוקר, אימו של מתן המוחזק בעזה כבר 377 ימים.
הצטרפו אלינו עכשיו בשער בגין בקריה.… pic.twitter.com/lPxaqNP3DL
— כולנו חטופים (@Kulanu_Hatufim) October 17, 2024
Like Zangauker, Avi Marciano, the father of slain hostage Noa Marciano, welcomed Sinwar’s death but said he considered it “a measure of justice but not consolation.”
“A year after I hugged Noa for the last time, the monster who had the blood of all our daughters on his hands has finally been sent to the gates of hell,” he said. “It’s a measure of justice, but not consolation. Consolation will come when [the other female soldier hostages] Naama, Liri, Agam, Daniella and Karina return home. They and all the other hostages have been wallowing in Gaza’s tunnels for over a year.
“What is important is the lives of our hostages and not the death of monsters,” he stressed.
In Tel Aviv, Sinwar’s death became the central focus of a pro-hostage deal rally that had been scheduled ahead of time.
Two protesters held signs above the crowd reading “I refuse to celebrate death, I’m waiting to celebrate life,” while another held a sign proclaiming that “The picture of victory is the final hostage, not Sinwar in a coffin.”
A smaller protest was also organized near Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea.
Meanwhile, the hawkish Tikva Forum, which represents hostage families who favor military action to return their loved ones rather than a ceasefire deal, said in a celebratory statement that their “prayers were answered and the mass murderer Sinwar was eliminated by our heroic forces.”
“Now that the head of the snake has been cut off — we must finish the job and destroy the body as well,” the forum continued, confirming that its stance had not changed in light of Sinwar’s death. “Precisely now — we must increase the military pressure, occupy maximum territory and stop the ongoing supply of aid to Hamas terrorists.
“When Hamas is on its knees begging for a deal, we can consider a deal that will return all the hostages together.”
In the aftermath of Sinwar’s killing, Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had discussed the matter with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and that the two had also discussed hostage deal efforts.
Negotiations had all but ground to a halt in recent weeks, and Al-Thani said on Wednesday that there had been no talks with Hamas for “three to four weeks.”
He said that there had been “no conversation or engagement at all” on the issue, and that mediators were “just moving in the same circle with silence from all parties.”
The New York Times reported last week that Sinwar’s attitude had actually “hardened,” and as such, US mediators now believed “Hamas has no intention of reaching a deal with Israel.”
Blinken also phoned President Isaac Herzog on Thursday to congratulate him on the killing of Sinwar, according to an Israeli readout.
Blinken told Herzog that the killing brings justice to Sinwar’s victims and stressed that the world is a better place with him gone, Herzog’s office said.
Herzog told Blinken that Israel’s top priority is now freeing the remaining 101 hostages, adding that there is now “an important opportunity” to do so following Sinwar’s killing.
Blinken informed Herzog that he is considering visiting the region again soon in light of the killing, the Israeli readout added.
Still, Mossad chief David Barnea is said to have remained in contact with Qatari mediators, and earlier this week, the Walla news site reported that Shin Bet director Ronen Bar had met with Egyptian officials on the matter.
A November 2023 deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered in a joint effort by Egypt, Qatar and the US, saw the release of 105 of the 251 hostages Hamas took during its October 7 attack, when it murdered some 1,200 people.
In exchange for the hostages, fighting was paused in Gaza for as week as women, children, and non-Israeli hostages were released, and as Israel released female and minor Palestinian prisoners from its jails.
Ongoing attempts since then to broker a deal for the release of the remaining hostages still held captive by Hamas have repeatedly failed as Israel and the terror group accused each other of sabotaging negotiations.
The US has repeatedly said that Hamas was the main obstacle to an agreement.
Throughout the year of war in Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 42,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 355.
