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Many global leaders have expressed hope that Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, considered one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, might provide an opportunity to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages held there.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday said the Gaza war had not ended with the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, while calling on militants to free hostages.
“The war is not over yet. And it is difficult, and it exacts heavy prices from us,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, adding in a message to Palestinians in Gaza: “Whoever lays down his weapon and returns our hostages – we will allow him to go on living.”
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French President Emmanuel Macron called Thursday for the release of “all hostages” held by Hamas in Gaza.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main person responsible for the terrorist attacks and barbaric acts of October 7,” he wrote on X. “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.”
President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Sinwar’s death marks a moment of relief for Israelis, while providing the opportunity for a “day after” in Gaza without the militant group in power.
“Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us,” Biden said in a statement.
The killing of Sinwar dealt a fatal blow to Hamas, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Thursday, adding that a page must now be turned to work towards peace in Gaza and the wider region.
“It’s a fatal blow that has been struck on Hamas, a terrorist group, which was guilty of an anti-Semitic massacre and many attacks, terrorist attacks,” Barrot told LCI television, adding diplomacy alone would enable Israel to have security in the long-term.