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Killing of Hamas Chief Sinwar Sends Shockwaves Across Middle East, Raises New Uncertainty Over Hostages
Hamas leader and Oct. 7 pogrom mastermind Yahya Sinwar addressing a rally in Gaza. Photo: Reuters/braheem Abu Mustafa
The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Palestinian terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, has sent shockwaves throughout the Middle East, prompting concerns about retaliation and the safety of the 101 hostages still being held captive in Gaza, a former Israeli intelligence official told The Algemeiner on Thursday.
Sinwar was killed in an intense but routine firefight in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday night, according to the Israeli military. The force that eliminated Sinwar, which was a cadet squad that was not targeting the Hamas chief, first encountered resistance when tank shells were fired at a building where suspicious figures had been observed. Despite initial pushback, including grenade attacks from terrorists inside, the Israeli forces persisted, using drones to track the movements of fleeing combatants. After further shelling, one masked figure was located by a drone, and additional fire was directed at his position. A video later released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shows the masked figure, later identified as Sinwar, throwing a stick at the drone but missing.
It wasn’t until the following morning that Israeli forces discovered that the slain terrorist bore a striking resemblance to Sinwar. On his body, soldiers found several personal items, including a fake passport, Mentos, money, a weapon, a lighter, and an ID belonging to a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employee.
Items found by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s body. Photo: Israel Defense Forces
Items found by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s body. Photo: Israel Defense Forces
Sinwar’s death comes as negotiations over a hostage release deal have stalled, in part over the deceased terror chief’s maximalist position demanding the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire, with the New York Times reporting last week that Sinwar’s “hardened” attitude had left US mediators to speculate that “Hamas has no intention of reaching a deal with Israel.” Israel, for its part, has consistently rejected any proposal that would allow Hamas to maintain control over the Gaza Strip or rebuild its military capabilities.
Israeli intelligence expert and former senior official on Arab affairs, Avi Melamed, said that the coming days will be crucial in determining the ramifications of Sinwar’s death with regard to the hostages kidnapped last Oct. 7. “Some of the people who are holding some of the hostages may take revenge and kill [them],” he warned.
On the other hand, Melamed said, Sinwar’s elimination might create new opportunities for negotiations, particularly if the Hamas leadership becomes destabilized, suggesting that “the path may now be open for some sort of arrangements or agreements” that could lead to the release of hostages.
But such an outcome is also fraught with challenges, because the hostages are estimated to be scattered across various locations in Gaza, he said, with some believed to be held by civilians rather than Hamas militants. “Even Hamas leadership, if they want to move forward, may have difficulties locating those who hold the hostages,” Melamed explained.
Israeli efforts to secure the release of hostages have been complicated by Hamas’s decentralized command structure, and the death of Sinwar introduces new uncertainty about who will succeed him as leader. While his brother, Mohammad Sinwar, is seen as a potential successor, there are conflicting reports about whether he is even alive, with some Arabic language reports saying that he was killed in the same strike that killed his brother.
Even though Mohammad Sinwar, as leader of the al-Qassam Brigades, holds significant sway within Hamas, he lacks the same level of authority, strategic insight, and influence as his brother. Yahya, as both the political and military leader in Gaza, had consolidated power across multiple facets of Hamas operations, making him a central figure both within the group’s leadership — including those in exile in Qatar — and in external negotiations. Mohammad, while influential within the military wing, does not possess Yahya’s extensive network or political clout, which could lead to internal challenges or a weakened leadership structure moving forward.
But Mohammad, Melamed stressed, is “no less brutal and psychopathic than his brother.”
Az al-Din Haddad, the commander of Hamas’s Gaza Brigade, stands as one of the few remaining high-ranking leaders within the al-Qassam Brigades, and could become a candidate to succeed Sinwar. Known for his resilience and charm, Haddad has survived multiple Israeli assassination attempts, a fact that has bolstered his standing within the organization. If Haddad were to succeed Sinwar, it would mark a shift in leadership.
Beyond the immediate hostage crisis, Sinwar’s killing also raises larger questions about broader strategic calculus, particularly regarding Iran, which backs Hamas.
“There is a connection between these things,” Melamed remarked. “One thought is this might incentivize Israel to attack Iran, while another says the total opposite, that now Israel will hold off on its plans to attack.”
According to Melamed, Israel may opt to hold off on a strike in Iran in retaliation for Tehran’s recent ballistic missile attack against the Jewish state to see whether Palestinians holding hostages will respond to the Israeli Prime Minister’s appeal for their release, which was issued shortly after the announcement of Sinwar’s death. Iranian state media are framing Sinwar’s death as an act of “martyrdom,” lauding the Hamas leader for “dying in combat” against Israel in Gaza.
Meanwhile Hamas-affiliated outlets have denied his death. The Gaza Now outlet posted a warning to its followers, stating, “Warning, the reports about the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar are completely false, and the occupation’s publication and circulation of this news is an attempt to collect intelligence information, as it did previously with leader Muhammad al-Deif. Please be careful.”
The post Killing of Hamas Chief Sinwar Sends Shockwaves Across Middle East, Raises New Uncertainty Over Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
The post Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
The post Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.