Israeli officials said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israel Defense Forces in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Hamas has not commented publicly on the reports.

Sinwar was the mastermind of the Oct. 7 terror attacks, which killed 1,200 people and set off Israel’s year-long war against Hamas in Gaza. Israel has made killing him a key objective, and may now be more willing to scale back its military operations in Gaza.

    • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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      14 days ago

      He was particularly hostile to peace with Israel (and Israel was particularly hostile to peace with him). Furthermore (according to my understanding) Hamas doesn’t have much formal structure; it isn’t like the USA where the government is ready to accept the vice president as the leader if the president dies. I assume that Sinwar prepared a successor, but there’s still probably no one who knows all the same things and has the loyalty of all the same people.

        • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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          14 days ago

          He also wrote that Netanyahu will pay any price at the expense of the public in Israel, provided that his rule does not fall "and therefore, to the horror of it, there is no chance that the war will end in the foreseeable future. Neither voluntarily nor according to logic. Its continuation forever is the only barrier that will prevent his personal catastrophe.

          Yep, the ongoing war is delaying a corruption trial against Bibi where I think he could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison, so he’s going to keep this war going forever if he can

        • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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          14 days ago

          Israel is not the USA. It doesn’t have the economy to support a forever war, even with US help. Most of its soldiers are reservists who need to go back to their jobs sooner rather than later.

            • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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              14 days ago

              I’m not a fan of Netanyahu but that article isn’t a hard-headed political analysis. Even Netanyahu is constrained by physical reality; he might not have a realistic plan for peace, but that doesn’t mean he can continue war indefinitely.

      • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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        14 days ago

        You don’t think that whoever survives the horror they just have been through on Gaza will eventually replace them?

        • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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          14 days ago

          No, I don’t think the popular theory that organizations like Hamas exist because people want revenge is correct. The critical component seems to be a power vacuum; in its absence humans will tolerate anything. If Israel establishes order in Gaza by some means (and by that I don’t just mean armed patrols through hostile territory) then there can be occasional terrorist attacks but no organized resistance.

          The problem that I see is actually that there’s little precedent for establishing order in circumstances like this while acting with the humanitarian constraints that Israel does have. The USA failed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Russia succeeded in Chechnya but Israel cannot (and should not) even come close to the level of brutality Russia employed.

          • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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            14 days ago

            Yeah if Israel extends it’s apartheid into Gaza, that’ll bring peace in the region for sure.

            /S

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        14 days ago

        Things are going to have to get a lot worse for the IDF before they would take out their own leader.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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      13 days ago

      I think it makes it a bit more difficult to escalate and therefore help elect Trump. For Bibi, Sinwar being at large is an unequivocal argument to keep on keeping on in Gaza. Now that he’s gone, he’ll have to use flimsier ones and whoever might push back, could push back harder.

    • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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      14 days ago

      Meh, it’s not a bad thing.

      Killing Hamas (who did Oct 7) should make it easier to put things back together afterwards.

      Bibi has to go first though, obviously, he’s 10 Sinwars.

      • NateNate60@lemmy.world
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        14 days ago

        Terrorist groups are more likely to form in bad social, political, and economic circumstances. Astute observation.

      • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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        14 days ago

        And Israel was created because the Jews got fucking slaughtered and driven from their homes in the world wars and didn’t have anywhere safe that anyone wanted them.

        And the US exists because the Europeans slaughtered the native Americans.

        And England exists because they slaughtered the locals that were there before.

        And modern China exists because they slaughtered the group before them.

        Its almost like this is exactly how it’s always worked.

        • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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          14 days ago

          Weird way to excuse a genocide but ok.

          Edit: the fact that Jewish people went through a Holocaust, doesn’t excuse them from creating another one.

  • IAmNotACat@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    Not many people could get a bullseye with 40,000 darts and a year to use them. Fairplay to Israel for their precision on this one.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      14 days ago

      During a routine patrol by the IDF, the soldiers encountered three armed men. They exchanged fire and killed them. Israeli officials said the incident was coincidental and not based on intelligence.

      • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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        13 days ago

        Yeah I don’t think Bibi wanted him dead yet. At least not before the American election. His path to electing Trump is through escalation. Sinwar’s death was immediately used by states to demand de-escalation.

  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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    14 days ago

    Good news is rare. I hope this was the result of better intelligence on the whereabouts of the Hamas leadership rather than luck.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      14 days ago

      I pasted this in response to the wrong comment, so here it is again for you:

      During a routine patrol by the IDF, the soldiers encountered three armed men. They exchanged fire and killed them. Israeli officials said the incident was coincidental and not based on intelligence.

      • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
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        14 days ago

        They wouldn’t exactly admit a source and compromise further operations. They probably had at least an idea of where he might be.

        • mlg@lemmy.world
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          14 days ago

          OBL hid in a personal mansion for 10 years only 100 miles away from Pakistan Military Academy

          Mullah Omar hid in a tunnel only 3 miles away from Base Wolverine lol.

          I think it was probably a bit of both. They knew he was in the north, but not much more. I presume their intel gathering fell apart after the infrastructure collapsed.

      • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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        14 days ago

        He was just walking around on the surface? Why?

        Edit: Kyrgizion makes a good point.

        They wouldn’t exactly admit a source and compromise further operations. They probably had at least an idea of where he might be.

    • Sl00k@programming.dev
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      14 days ago

      Plenty more to go.

      If you’re referring to innocent women and children yes that’s accurate.

      • WhyFlip@lemmy.world
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        14 days ago

        Human shields around fucking cowards, yes. The women are completely complicit. I only feel bad for the children, but the parents of these want to completely eradicate all Jews, so fuck 'em.

  • Anas@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    Let it be known that he was not assassinated while hiding in the tunnels like they claim. This was not some mastermind operation, or proof of the IOF’s capability or willingness to perform precise strikes in Gaza. He was martyred in battle, rifle in hand. A position you will never see bibi in.

    and may now be more willing to scale back its military operations in Gaza.

    press X to doubt

    • Affidavit@lemm.ee
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      13 days ago

      Anyone can be a martyr; all you need to do is believe your cause has more value than your own life. However, we have another word for someone who believes their cause has more value than the lives of innocent bystanders. Yahya Sinwar was a terrorist.

      Sinwar won’t be remembered as a martyr, he will be remembered as a selfish fool. There is no doubt in my mind that more Palestinians would be alive today if Yahya Sinwar were never born.