Pledges by Israel and its enemies Hamas and Hezbollah to continue fighting in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon have dashed hopes that the could end well over a year of escalating war in the Middle East.
Iran, the militant groups’ main backer, also said Sinwar’s death would only fuel “the spirit of resistance.”
Hamas leader Sinwar, said to be the main architect of the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war in Gaza, was killed by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday.
Video showed him throwing a stick at a drone as he sat dying.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his killing a milestone but vowed to continue the war, which in recent weeks has expanded from the battle against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to an invasion and pursuit of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
“The war, my beloved, is not over yet,” Netanyahu told Israelis late Thursday, saying fighting would continue until the hostages held by Hamas are released.
“We have a great opportunity in front of us to stop the axis of evil,” he added, referring to Iran and its militant allies in the region in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Hamas said its hostages would not be released until a cessation of hostilities in Gaza, an Israeli withdrawal and the release of its prisoners.
“The martyrdom of our brother, leader Yahya Sinwar… will only increase the strength and determination of Hamas and our resistance,” the report said, confirming his death in battle.
That rhetoric from the warring sides contrasted with some leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who said Sinwar’s death offered an opportunity for negotiations.
The Israeli government has rejected several attempts by its main ally, the US, to mediate a ceasefire in both Gaza and Lebanon, and continues the wars.
The Israeli army said Friday it has sent another army unit to support its forces operating in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps. Residents said tanks blew up roads and houses as they pushed further into the area.
Residents of Jabalia in northern Gaza said Israeli tanks had reached the heart of the camp, using heavy air and ground fire, after pushing through suburbs and residential areas.
Iran appears largely powerless to match Israel’s military might, including American weapons.
A senior diplomat working in Lebanon told Reuters that hopes that Sinwar’s death would end the war appeared misplaced.
“We had hoped throughout this whole process that getting rid of Sinwar would be the turning point where the wars would end… where everyone would be ready to lay down their weapons. It seems we were wrong again,” the diplomat said. .
Sinwar, Hamas’s overall leader after the assassination of political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in July, is believed to have hidden in the warren of tunnels that Hamas has built under the Gaza Strip.
He was killed in a firefight by Israeli forces on Wednesday, initially unaware they had captured their biggest enemy, Israeli officials said.
The military released a drone video of what they said was Sinwar sitting on an armchair and covered in dust in a destroyed building.
He was followed by the drone as he lay dying, the video showed, desperately throwing a stick.
The October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
According to Palestinian officials, Israel subsequently killed more than 42,000 people.
The offensive has left most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people homeless, maimed tens of thousands, caused widespread hunger and destroyed hospitals and schools.
Hezbollah, which began firing rockets into Israel on October 8 in support of its Hamas ally, is the target of Israel’s intensifying attack on Lebanon, which has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced 1.2 million beaten.
Israel has killed several top Hamas leaders and decapitated Hezbollah’s leadership within weeks, mainly through airstrikes.
The killings dealt a blow to what anti-Israel forces call the Axis of Resistance, a group of militant groups that Iran has supported for decades across the region.
Iran showed no sign that Sinwar’s assassination would change its support.
“The spirit of resistance will be strengthened,” the mission to the United Nations said.
Hezbollah was also defiant, announcing “the transition to a new and escalating phase in the confrontation with Israel.”
Families of Israeli hostages said that while Sinwar’s killing was an achievement, it would not be completed while the prisoners were still in Gaza.
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