Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar gives “us the opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza.”
Israel Defense Forces said Sinwar, a U.S.-designated terrorist, was killed during an operation in southern Gaza Thursday morning. Images show Sinwar’s body surrounded by IDF troops after an apparent tank attack on the building he and two others were in.
Commenting on the news at a press conference in Wisconsin, the vice president said “justice has been served.”
“This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza,” Harris said. “I will say to any terrorist who kills Americans, threatens the American people or threatens our troops or our interests, know this — we will always bring you to justice.”
Trending
Throughout her campaign, Harris has maintained the Biden administration’s position on the war in Gaza; she has called for a cease-fire, supported Israel’s right to self-defense and called for a two-state solution for the region.
In recent weeks, reports have indicated that President Joe Biden has grown increasingly frustrated with Israel’s conduct in the war — especially as the IDF has now expanded its targets into Lebanon despite the United States’ calls for a hostage and cease-fire deal. This week, the administration wrote Israel a stern letter demanding aid to be allowed to move freely into Gaza or risk the loss of some U.S. military support.
Sinwar’s death is now giving the Biden administration a new opening to call for peace.
“Sinwar was a massive obstacle to the peace in the day after in Gaza” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. “Now that that obstacle has been removed, President Biden looks forward to talking to Prime Minister Netanyahu about how we secure the hostages, an end to the war and a move to the day after in Gaza.”
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday that any Hamas members guarding hostages would be allowed to “leave and live” if they released those in captivity since Oct. 7, 2023.
Diplomatic offices around the world have similarly followed suit, publicly calling for Hamas to immediately release hostages and stop fighting.
“We conducted many special operations in this war where we had excellent information, and we deployed forces prepared with pinpoint accuracy,” IDF’s chief of general staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said. “Here, we didn’t have that and the response was very, very strong.”
The IDF said that “there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area” that Sinwar was killed.
—
John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
Author
