(17 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London – 17 October 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Nomi Bar-Yaacov, Associate Fellow of Chatham House:
"If Yahya Sinwar is indeed dead, it would be the equivalent of the US killing of Osama bin Laden. It’s as big a deal as that. He is the man, Yahya Sinwar, almost single handedly who planned, orchestrated the 7th of October attack on Israel. He planned for Iran and for all of Iran’s long arms, meaning the proxies, Hezbollah and the militias that Iran funds and trains in Syria and in Iraq, to join the fight and try to eliminate the state of Israe off the map. So it’s a very big deal if Yahya Sinwar is indeed gone."
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nomi Bar-Yaacov, Associate Fellow of Chatham House:
"It would very much increase the chances of a cease-fire because Israel’s prime goal, declared goal and actual goal, was to take out the leadership of Hamas and the military capabilities of Hamas. So 23 out of 24 battalions have been dismantled and the vast majority of the senior commanders have been killed, assassinated. Certainly Yahya Sinwar’s deputy, Mohammed Deif, has been killed. So this would really be the cherry on the icing on the cake for Israel if he’s indeed dead. And if he’s dead and was not surrounded by hostages, then it should be easier to reach a deal. Hezbollah is calling for a cease-fire in the north, it’s all interlinked. The entire world is calling for a cease-fire. And I think the people of Gaza are very tired not only of the Israeli bombardments, but also of the disaster that Hamas have brought upon them since 7th of October."
++ENDS++
STORYLINE:
The confirmed death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip would be equivalent in magnitude to the 2011 killing of al-Qaida’s Osama Bin Laden by the US, a UK analyst has said.
"It’s as big a deal as that,’’ said Nomi Bar-Yaacov, an associate fellow of the International Security Program at the Chatham House think tank in London.
The Israeli military on Thursday said it was looking into whether Sinwar was killed in a military operation in Gaza.
Authorities were conducting DNA tests on a body to determine whether it was him, an Israeli security official said.
“He is the man, Yahya Sinwar, almost single handedly who planned, orchestrated the 7th of October attack on Israel. He planned for Iran and for all of Iran’s long arms, meaning the proxies, Hezbollah and the militias that Iran funds and trains in Syria and in Iraq to join the fight and try to eliminate the state of Israel," Bar-Yaacov said.
His death would be a significant moment in Israel’s yearlong offensive against the militant group and could complicate efforts to release dozens of hostages held in Gaza.
Sinwar became the head of Hamas after the killing of the previous leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in an explosion in Iran in July that was widely blamed on Israel.
It’s unclear who would replace Sinwar, and what that might mean for cease-fire efforts, which sputtered to a halt in August after months of negotiations brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Bar-Yaacov suggested Sinwar’s confirmed death would increase the chances of a deal, "because Israel’s prime goal, declared goal and actual goal, was to take out the leadership of Hamas and the military capabilities of Hamas."
"Twenty-three out of 24 battalions have been dismantled and the vast majority of the senior commanders have been killed," Bar-Yaacov said, adding that the population of Gaza was also very war-weary.
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