Ta-Ta, Yahya
Some rapid reactions to the death of Hamas archterrorist Yahya Sinwar.
Today is a glorious day: the Israeli Defense Forces have killed the architect of the October 7 atrocities and the crowned head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar was killed in Rafah in a building with two of his bodyguards, after an IDF detachment came across the trio entirely by coincidence. He was seemingly in the process of attempting to flee the combat zone given the multiple fake IDs and large amount of cash found on his body. His death was confirmed via DNA testing and photographic evidence.
There is much to celebrate about the demise of such a truly evil man. Sinwar’s death completes an absolute masterclass by Israel in decapitating the leadership structures of its Iran-backed terrorist enemies. The Hamas archterrorist was one of the final remaining leaders of that organization and his elimination cripples its ability to fight in any sort of ordered way. Still, Hamas remains a battlefield force and holds over 100 hostages, including several Americans. The war in Gaza is not over, but it is in its denouement.
Here are a few other random thoughts that I’ve had on my mind since hearing this fantastic news earlier this morning:
The manner in which Sinwar was dispatched is notable given its genuine happenstance. A cadet crew, patrolling Rafah randomly, saw unidentified terrorists in a building and shot a few shells into it. It just happened that those terrorists included the most wanted man in Gaza. The man who fired the killing shot was a 19-year-old who had only been serving in the IDF for 9 months, meaning he enlisted after October 7. That fact sums up the Israel I know so well: it is full of people, especially youth, who are dedicated to the success of their nation and are willing and able to sacrifice for it. And that is why they will win. Hamas and its ilk are death cults; Israel is the opposite.
As I mentioned, the war against Hamas is not over. And the broader seven front conflict (Gaza, West Bank, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran) is far from it. Israel must keep up the military pressure if it wishes to finish rolling up Hamas in Gaza and neuter it as an effective fighting force and a threat to Israeli civilians. The more military success Israel has, the better it will do in terms of securing the release of any remaining living hostages. The only hostage release that occurred since last year’s barbarities was due to immense Israeli military pressure; the only ones that could happen in the future would follow the same path. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, in his statement on the killing of Sinwar, offered clemency for any Hamas fighter who surrendered his hostages and weapons; this is a bold gambit to end the Hamas threat and secure the hostages without making a deal that endangers Israeli security. And when it comes to the other regional threats, run out of Tehran, Israel should go on the offensive while it has the momentum and the morale boost.
The killing of Sinwar also goes to show exactly why Israel has been right to ignore the desperate pleas of the Biden-Harris administration and the international community to go easy on Hamas. The White House has been pushing Israel for months to stop its advance in Gaza, telling it to make a deal – any deal – with Hamas to secure the release of some hostages and end the conflict before Hamas had been annihilated. As part of that push – perhaps the most significant part – the administration sought to foreclose Israel’s push into Rafah, Hamas’s southern bastion and resupply route. Vice President Kamala Harris had “studied the maps” and declared confidently that there was no way Israel could evacuate Gazan civilians and defeat Hamas. Had her terrible advice been heeded, Israel would never have eliminated Sinwar; one would not be too wrong to think that his survival and that of Hamas was a goal of the American government from the start. Israel should continue to ignore the nakedly political advice of the party in power if it seeks to emerge victorious from the existential war launched against it by Iran. And that includes attacking Iranian nuclear sites and oil infrastructure in retaliation for the recent ballistic missile barrage launched against Israel.
On a related note, it is worth watching how the West, America especially, reacts to this incredible Israeli success. The largely anti-Israel media will now feel even freer to criticize Netanyahu and Israel alone for the prolongation of the conflict and will surely resurface the spurious critiques – the always-impending famine lie, the (very low) civilian casualties, and the movement of Gazans out of combat zones – made against Israel’s warfighting. There will assuredly be greater pressure put on the Netanyahu government to end the war against Hamas and its other attackers, too. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, one of the least effective diplomats in modern American history, is reportedly heading to the region once again to negotiate a ceasefire. The pressure he brings to bear will almost exclusively be on Jerusalem, not Hamas, nor Iran, nor Qatar, where the likely next leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashal, is living comfortably in luxury. It would be a major error by Israel if it followed such advice. The Biden administration is a lame duck through January, so Israel has exceptional freedom of action over the next few months. It must take advantage of that. The only ceasefire that should happen is one that results in the unconditional surrender of Hamas; the IDF is well on the way to making that a reality.
One item that Sinwar had on his body is especially revealing of the deep rot at the heart of the international community and how it treats Palestinians. Sinwar was carrying an UNRWA ID when he was killed and one of his bodyguards was employed as a teacher in an UNRWA school. If you didn’t know, UNRWA is the offshoot of the United Nations that is responsible for the plight of the Palestinians. And yes, I mean that in the way it reads: that UNRWA is exacerbating the situation that Palestinians are in today. UNRWA has been a major supporter of violent antisemitic terrorism since its inception and has operated as a branch of Hamas since at least 2005, providing ‘legitimate’ jobs for Hamas members, funneling international aid monies to the terror group, and shielding Gazan military infrastructure. The farce that is the UN, particularly when it deals with Israel, has been fully revealed. If anyone still trusts that despicable institution, they are either foolish, ignorant, or sympathetic with UNRWA’s antisemitic aims.
The killing of Sinwar is a major success for Israel and should be celebrated by anyone with an ounce of sense and a halfway decent moral compass. We will see over the coming days and weeks who passes that very simple test. Until then, pop the bubbly, fire up Hatikvah on your music app of choice, and raise a glass to the IDF for eliminating one of the worst people on the planet. Good riddance, Yahya. Say hi to the rest of your terrorist friends in hell; they’ll be more coming soon enough.