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Hamas Leader’s ‘Days Are Numbered,’ Says US Official
Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City on April 14, 2023. Photo: Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
i24 News — Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s days “are numbered,” a senior Biden administration official said Thursday, pledging that “justice will be served.”
Coinciding with a visit to the region by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, the official said of Sinwar, “I think it’s safe to say his days are numbered … He has American blood on his hands.”
Sinwar, who runs Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is part of a group of Hamas higher-ups who planned the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Sullivan visited Israel on Thursday, meeting twice with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A meeting with Israel’s full War Cabinet was sandwiched in between.
Sullivan also met individually with Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and War Cabinet member and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz. A meeting with Mossad Director David Barnea stretched from one hour to two, focusing on the hostage situation in Gaza.
Sullivan’s trip to Israel comes amid vocal frustration from US President Joe Biden and others regarding the growing civilian death toll in Gaza amidst Israel’s operation to root out Hamas terrorists, who hide and operate amongst the civilian population and below ground.
The official said the second Sullivan-Netanyahu meeting focused on expectations “as we move through the course of the coming weeks or towards the end of the year and into the early part of January.”
Overall, the official said the two talked about the humanitarian situation, military campaign strategy, and threats from Iran’s other regional proxies, including the Houthis and Hezbollah.
I met today with @IsraeliPM, @yoavgallant, @gantzbe,@Tzachi_Hanegbi, & the War Cabinet in Tel Aviv to discuss our shared objective of defeating Hamas while minimizing harm to civilians & ensuring the increased and sustained flow of humanitarian assistance. https://t.co/3BKFb3bhBa
— Jake Sullivan (@JakeSullivan46) December 15, 2023
Amidst multiple media reports that the Biden administration is instructing Israel to wind down its operation in Gaza in the coming weeks, the official disputed the accuracy of such reports, telling journalists that the White House was more concerned with the intensity of the IDF’s assaults, and less so with particular time frames.
United States and Israeli officials are focusing on a shift from high-intensity operations to one of high-value targets in a lower-intensity environment, the official emphasized.
“Heavy discussions” were held on Israel’s need to protect Gazan civilians, and the humanitarian situation in Gaza was a focal point.
The Biden administration has been pushing Israel to focus more on the future of Gaza, and what will happen once Hamas is no longer in power there. The White House’s stated preference is for a “revamped, revitalized” Palestinian Authority (PA) to resume the control it lost to Hamas in 2007. Netanyahu is insistent that the PA will play no part in a post-Hamas leadership role in Gaza.
The senior official on Thursday danced around a question about what exactly would define a revitalized PA, which is largely seen as broken and corrupt. Sullivan is set to meet on Friday with PA officials, focusing on maintaining a measure of stability in the West Bank.
The official insisted there is a role for the PA in a future Gaza.
“There are a number of security personnel linked to the Palestinian Authority, which we think might be able to provide some sort of a nucleus in the many months that follow the overall military campaign. But this is something we’re discussing with the Palestinians and with the Israelis and with regional partners. It very much remains a work in progress,” the official said.
Regardless of the exact security structure, the Israeli government is adamant that the Biden administration’s insistence on revving up a pathway to a two-state solution, especially in light of Oct. 7, is a non-starter.
The official said on Thursday that conversations in Jerusalem have touched on what might be a potential alternative in the Israelis’ minds.
“I think we’ve actually had quite constructive conversations about where this heads,” said the official.
The post Hamas Leader’s ‘Days Are Numbered,’ Says US Official first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.