Israeli military carries out arrests in Hebron, Nablus

Israeli forces have re-arrested a man previously held in Israeli prison, along with his younger brother, after storming their home and assaulting their family in al-Fawar camp, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to the Quds News Network.

The Israeli military also arrested four men from their homes in the city of Nablus, before detaining and beating them at the Awarta military checkpoint, the Wafa news agency reports.

All four men have now been released and are receiving medical treatment, Wafa adds.

West Bank villagers return to shattered Zanuta with keys but no homes

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/17/west-bank-villagers-return-to-shattered-zanuta-with-keys-but-no-homes

When the villagers of Khirbet Zanuta fled their homes last year, chased out by Israeli settler attacks, they took their keys with them.

For the 300 or so days that they spent living in tents in ad-Dhahiriya, about 30km (19 miles) away, they kept their keys, in the hope that they would be able to return to their homes.

On August 21, after a legal battle, some villagers did return. But their keys were of no use. Instead, the sight that greeted them was a reminder of the precarious nature of life for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, particularly in areas under the direct control of Israel.

“When we returned, we thought we would be happy,” explained Muhammed al-Tal, a 23-year-old villager, whose family has lived in Khirbet Zanuta for generations. “But we were shocked by the sight of demolished and burned homes and devastation everywhere.”


_{Zanuta’s school was among the buildings destroyed during the settler attack on the village}

Israeli air strikes on Lebanese villages and towns continue


_{A picture taken from northern Israel along the border with Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Khiam during an Israeli bombardment}

_{Lebanon’s southern city of Tyre after an Israeli air strike on al-Hosh}

Gaza’s Government Media Office condemns Israeli attack on school

Gaza’s Government Media Office has condemned Israel’s attack on a shelter for displaced Palestinians at the Abu Hussein School in Jabalia, which killed at least 28 people.

“We condemn the Israeli occupation’s commission of this new massacre against civilians, children and women, and we call on all countries of the world to condemn these ongoing crimes against the displaced, civilians, children and women,” the office said.

It added in a statement on Telegram that it holds Israel and the US “fully responsible” for the attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The attack on the school increased the number of shelters and displacement centres targeted by Israel to 192 since the war began more than a year ago.

Families of captives urge Israel to secure deal

The families of those still held captive in Gaza have welcomed reports on Sinwar’s possible killing – which has not been confirmed yet by either the Israeli army or Hamas. Yet they have urged the government to leverage “this major achievement into an immediate deal to secure hostages’ return”.

“We call on the Israeli government, world leaders, and mediating countries to leverage the military achievement into a diplomatic one by pursuing an immediate agreement for the release of all 101 hostages: the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for proper burial,” the group said in a statement on X.

“There is and will not be a total victory without the release of all 101 abductees,” it added.

Palestinian fighters took about 250 people from Israel into Gaza on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led attacks in southern Israel, which also killed 1,139 people. Nearly half the captives have been released. Others are still in captivity with some confirmed or feared dead.

The Hamas-led assault triggered a ferocious response by Israel, which has killed more than 42,000 people in the Strip, caused a humanitarian catastrophe, and reduced large swaths of the besieged and bombarded territory to rubble.


_{Families and supporters of Israeli captives held in Gaza protest to demand their immediate release in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 16}

US, Israel have invested ‘enormous resources’ into tracking down Sinwar

There have been enormous resources in coordination with the United States and Israel that have been invested in trying to track Yahya Sinwar down now.

Just a couple of days ago, here in Washington, when asked by reporters, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that Sinwar was the reason for the stalled ceasefire talks. He said that no discussions are taking place right now regarding ceasefire efforts and that is because, in the eyes of the US, Sinwar has zero interest in discussions.

The US still sees ceasefire agreements as the best way to bring the captives home.

Already rewriting history. Netanyahu stands in the way of the ceasefire deal Biden proposed and Hamas accepted back in May.

https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/details-of-the-ceasefire-deal-that-hamas-has-accepted/
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hamas-accepts-un-ceasefire-resolution-ready-negotiate-over-details-official-says-2024-06-11/

Netanyahu started adding extra conditions and is still adamant on keeping the IDF in Gaza. He was never interested in a ceasefire, only a temporary pause.

Now is the time to push for a captive deal: Israeli opposition leader

Yair Lapid has said on X that Israel’s political leadership should push hard for a “comprehensive” deal to return captives still held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas and other groups.

In a statement on X, the opposition leader said Israel should ” take advantage of the opportunity” of the potential killing of Hamas leader Yahyah Sinwar. Sinwar’s killing has yet to be confirmed by the Israeli army, and Hamas has yet to comment.

Lapid said Israel should also “offer monetary rewards and safe passage to anyone who brings [captives] to our forces”. Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza, which would include the return of the captives, have been stalled for months.

Safe passage... Yeah I'm sure they're going to believe you. If Sinwar is dead, who are you going to negotiate with. The hostages are spread over different groups, you might have just signed their final death warrant.

‘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.

Israeli foreign minister claims Hamas chief killed

Israel Katz says the Israeli army has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

Sinwar’s death has not been confirmed by Hamas.

Israeli army, Shin Bet now saying Hamas leader has been killed

A joint statement from the spokespeople for the Israeli army and domestic security agency Shin Bet says Sinwar was killed on Wednesday during an operation in the southern Gaza Strip.

“A force of the 828th Brigade, which operated in the area, identified and eliminated three terrorists. After completing the process of identifying the body, it can now be confirmed that [Sinwar] was eliminated,” the statement reads.

This statement follows a statement moments ago from Israel’s foreign minister saying Sinwar had been killed.

US House speaker says Sinwar ’embodiment of evil’

The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives in the US, Israel’s top military and diplomatic ally, has applauded the claim by Israel that Sinwar has been killed, saying his death brings “relief” to the people of Israel.

“Sinwar’s life was the embodiment of evil and marked by hatred for all that is good in the world,” Mike Johnson said in a statement.

“His death brings hope for all those who seek to live in freedom, and relief to Israelis he has sought to oppress.”

Err, he's a product of Israeli oppression, but whatever Mike.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/6/who-is-yahya-sinwar-ismail-haniyehs-successor-as-hamas-chief

Born in 1962 in a refugee camp Khan Younis, Sinwar is often portrayed as one of the most uncompromising top Hamas officials. He was arrested by Israel repeatedly in the early 1980s for his involvement in anti-occupation activism at the Islamic University in Gaza.

Sinwar did ‘not shy away’ from tough questions: Journalist

Hind Hassan, who conducted a one-on-one interview with Sinwar in 2021, says he came across as a man “who was defiant” in his beliefs.

Hassan told Al Jazeera she met him “walking down the street in full view” during a period when Israel had been bombing Gaza for 11 days and “everyone had believed he was in hiding.”

Hind said he did “not shy away” from some of the tougher questions.

She said when she asked a question about the claims that Hamas firing rockets into Israel could constitute a war crime, he became “passionate” in his responses.

He said Palestinians were expected to be “perfect victims, and that’s something that they cannot be”, she said.

He also drew a comparison between the protest movement that sprung up in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by US police in 2020 and what happened with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States to the Palestinian cause, Hind said.

‘The circle is closed, but the mission is not over’: Gantz

Opposition leader and former Defence Minister Benny Gantz, chairman of Israel’s National Unity alliance, has congratulated the Israeli military following the claim that Sinwar has been killed.

“This is an important achievement with a clear message – we will pursue our enemies to the end, anytime and anywhere,” he wrote on X.

He said the Israeli military “will continue to operate in the Gaza Strip for years to come, and now the series of achievements and the elimination of Sinwar must be taken advantage of to bring about the return of the abductees and the replacement of Hamas’s rule”.

War is not over, Netanyahu says

The Israeli prime minister says the war is not over and that in Gaza, Beirut and the region, “light is prevailing over darkness,” according to translated remarks.



The Israeli prime minister, for whom the ICC’s prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant over alleged war crimes, also said in his televised address:

Celebrations in Israel after government says Hamas leader killed


<sub>A demonstrator holds a sign about the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a protest calling for a ceasefire deal and the immediate release of captives on Thursday, October 17


Israeli soldiers give out food to a person in Sderot, Israel, October 17</sub>

_{Israelis celebrate the news of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, near Kibbutz Erez, southern Israel, on Thursday, October 17}

Killing of Sinwar will only ‘expand war’

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says Netanyahu and his government’s “appetite for violence grows with war. … They don’t get enough of it.”

Bishara said that in the wake of the successful assassinations carried out by Israel in recent months – Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah – the war has expanded.

“And now with the killing of Sinwar, the war will continue to expand and deepen and become even more violent,” he said.

Bishara cited a quote from Netanyahu’s speech moments ago in which he spoke about eliminating the “axis of evil”, meaning Iran and its partner groups, saying this was the prime minister’s clear signal that he means to escalate this conflict to a regional war.

He outlined what he called a likely scenario in which Israel will continue to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip, expand its operations in southern Lebanon, then move on to Syria, all while bombing Iran.

Israeli army vows to pursue everyone involved in October 7 attack

Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi says the army won’t stop until all fighters involved in the October 7 attack are caught and all captives returned.

Yahyah Sinwar, who Israel claims was killed Wednesday in Gaza, is accused of being the mastermind behind the attack on Israel last year.


_{Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi says the army will pursue everyone involved in October 7 attack}

Some reactions from European leaders to Israeli claims of Sinwar’s killing

French President Emmanuel Macron: “Yahya Sinwar was the main person responsible for the terrorist attacks and barbaric acts of October 7.” “Today, I think with emotion of the victims, including 48 of our compatriots, and their loved ones. France demands the release of all hostages still held by Hamas.”

Italy’s FM Antonio Tajani: “It seems that the military leader of Hamas has been killed and I believe that from this point of view, Israel may have carried out its self-defence against the Hamas terrorists.” “I hope that the disappearance of the Hamas leader will lead to a ceasefire in Gaza.”

German FM Annalena Baerbock: “Sinwar was a brutal murderer and terrorist, who wanted to destroy Israel and its people. As the mastermind of the terror on October 7, he brought death to thousands of people and immeasurable suffering to a whole region.” “Hamas must now release all hostages and lay down its weapons, the suffering of the people in Gaza must finally end.”


Biden: With Sinwar’s killing, ‘opportunity for day after in Gaza’

US President Joe Biden has issued a statement saying he was informed by Israel of the results of DNA testing that confirmed the killing of Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

“This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world”, he said, adding that US intelligence contributed to Israel’s manhunt for the Hamas leader over the course of the last year.

But, in the wake of the Israeli announcement, Biden’s message to Israel appears to be one of winding down the war – even though Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu declared in his video address earlier that the war on Gaza is not yet over.

“I will be speaking soon with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders … to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all, which has caused so much devastation to innocent people,” Biden’s statement reads.

“There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us,” the statement continued.

Biden has long blamed Sinwar and Hamas for the failure of negotiations to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza – blame that Hamas and some other world leaders place on Netanyahu and Israel.

Hamas has yet to comment on the fate of its leader.


‘Justice has been served’: Harris

This is what US Democratic presidential candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, told reporters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after the Israeli army declared that it had killed the Hamas chief.

“Sinwar was responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent people, including the victims of October 7 and hostages killed in Gaza,” she said, adding that the killing gives an opportunity to end the war in Gaza.

“Today I can only hope that the families of the victims of Hamas feel a sense and measure of relief.”

The US is Israel’s top military and diplomatic ally. Earlier this month, a report by Brown University’s Watson Institute said the US has spent $22.76bn in support of Israel’s war on Gaza and operations against the Houthis in Yemen. The $17.9bn in military aid to Israel since the war on Gaza started a year ago is the highest annual total ever, the report added.

Yeah Harris isn't going to be any better than Biden. A trial before the ICC would have been justice. An assassination only makes another martyr to rally behind.
Would Zelenskyys death have Ukraine give up independence? I think not.


‘The resistance is not going anywhere’

Mohamad Elmasry, from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says the cycle of violence is likely to continue unless the fundamental causes of the ongoing war are confronted.

“We know that violence breeds more violence. This genocide will breed even greater levels of resistance – these are just basic facts,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera.

While also suffering losses, Hamas has been able to recruit thousands of new members since the start of the war, Elmastry said, citing United States intelligence.

“So the resistance is not going anywhere anytime soon unless the root causes of this conflict are addressed, and the root causes are well known,” he said. “They’re the Israeli illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, the apartheid system that Israel has set up, the siege on Gaza, and the continued injustices.”

Once those things are addressed, Elmasry added, there can be a peaceful resolution – “but until then, there will be resistance”.

Blinken reinforcing the lies

Blinken reinforces US message that Sinwar’s killing should bring end to Gaza war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says in a statement that the United States will redouble efforts in the days ahead to end the war on Gaza following the apparent killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza yesterday.

“On multiple occasions over the past months, Sinwar rebuffed efforts by the United States and its partners to bring this war to a close through an agreement that would return the hostages to their families and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people,” Blinken’s statement said, repeating the US’s long-held claim that efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement failed due to the residence of Hamas and Sinwar.

Blinken joins US President Joe Biden and presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris in saying that Israel must use Sinwar’s killing to bring a swift end to the war.

These statements come as the US continues to provide Israel with the weapons that are killing dozens of Palestinians daily.

Washington says will ‘redouble’ push for ceasefire without offering plan

In just the last couple of hours, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken to Qatar’s prime minister and his counterpart in Saudi Arabia, people who could be key conduits between whoever takes over and Hamas.

Of course, the situation is clouded simply by the fact no one knows who will now lead the organisation and what position they may well take.

Certainly, as far as the US is concerned, [State Department spokesperson] Matthew Miller described the [reported] killing of Sinwar as a seismic event. He says that this obviously presents an opportunity now where they can advance talks at some point.

No one is entirely sure what they will do over the next few days to redouble efforts.

Whether or not the Israelis would be in a position to negotiate that isn’t clear, either. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often said in the past that the military pressure will force Hamas to hand over the people who are being held captive. Once again, in his view, it has been proven right from what happened over the last few hours.

Hmm, 2 times zero is still zero....

US senator: ‘Sinwar is dead, the war must end’

Bernie Sanders has issued a statement in the wake of the Hamas leader’s reported death, saying, “There is now no justification for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government to continue their all-out war against the Palestinian people.”

“There is no justification for further delaying a hostage deal and a ceasefire,” Sanders’s statement continued. “And there is absolutely no justification for continued US support for Netanyahu’s horrific policies, which are in clear violation of US and international law.”

Sanders has been Isreal’s chief critic in the US Senate throughout the war on Gaza.