‘Israel has full intention to stay in Gaza’
Gideon Levy, an Israeli political analyst and Haaretz columnist, says the – unconfirmed – killing of Sinwar is unlikely to change the fate of the more than 100 captives still held in Gaza because the government’s priority is to remain in the Strip.
“In a normal situation, I would expect the killing of Sinwar to make us do big progress towards releasing the hostages and even putting an end to this war – but not in Israel because the aim is to stay in Gaza,” Levy told Al Jazeera.
“So what will the killing of Sinwar change? And if the release of hostages is on the table again, with whom will we renegotiate? And if we negotiate, who will agree to return all the hostages when Israel aims to stay in Gaza?” he asked.
“And no doubt about this, Israel has the full intention to stay in Gaza, at least for the coming months or, God forbid, even coming years.”
Israeli police examining DNA, dental evidence on Yahya Sinwar
Israeli police have issued a statement saying that – along with the Israeli military and Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence service – they are working to identify if Sinwar has been killed. Dental images have been submitted to the police forensics lab, and DNA testing is under way, the statement said.
So far, one of the many tests required for a certain identification has been carried out, it added.
‘Palestinian resistance rooted in oppression, not leaders’
“Killing the leader of Hamas won’t break Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation,” says Daniel Levy, president of the US/Middle East Project and a former adviser in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
There is an “Israeli-Western obsession that you remove the leader, that you cut off the head of the snake, and then the issue is dealt with – as if Palestinian resistance was premised on the mesmerising appeal of Mr Sinwar or any other leader that has been assassinated in the past,” said Levy, who was also an Israeli negotiator.
“Resistance is a function of the oppressive conditions and denial of rights under which people are kept – a colonial mindset cannot understand that,” Levy said.
“But the people living under those conditions will understand that. The position of [the] head of an armed resistance movement against an occupation like this is a position where the job definition is martyrdom,” he added.
