Sinwar’s death is an opening for a deal.
In what turned out to be the last few months of Yahya Sinwar’s life, U.S. and Israeli officials worried that the architect of the October 7 attacks might never free the hostages they believed he had hidden in the twisting tunnels of Gaza. Sinwar had essentially abandoned negotiations over a durable cease-fire and the accompanying release of the 100-plus captives, as well as fresh aid for Palestinians and the chance to rebuild their obliterated territory with international help. American and Israeli intelligence officials, who had no direct contact with Sinwar and communicated via intermediaries, told me they weren’t sure if they were dealing with a rational actor ready to end his people’s suffering or a fanatic with a death wish.
Sinwar’s chance encounter on Wednesday with an Israeli military patrol, whose soldiers did not immediately realize that they had killed their country’s most wanted man, has inspired a cautious optimism. These are early days, but the “chief impediment” to freeing the hostages and bringing some peace to Gaza is gone, one U.S. official told me. Whether any of this happens hinges on the decisions of two men: Sinwar’s yet unnamed replacement and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
En route to Germany for a conference on the war in Ukraine, President Joe Biden phoned Netanyahu from Air Force One to congratulate him on the military operation, urging his fellow leader to “use this moment to bring the hostages home and to bring the war to a close,” the White House said. One Israeli official close to the negotiating teams told me that they, too, saw a “greater chance” to secure a hostage deal now and would renew their efforts.
The families of the hostages who remain in Gaza are intent on making sure that political leaders don’t let the opportunity slip away. Sinwar’s death brought a measure of justice for the victims of Hamas’s murderous rampage, and Israel might legitimately claim to have defeated its enemy, but “there’s no total victory without the hostages coming out,” says Ruby Chen, whose son Itay is in captivity in Gaza and a dual U.
