EDITORIAL: To its list of assassinations of resistance leaders Israel has added the name of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.
He was killed in a chance encounter with invasion forces on Thursday. Born in a refugee camp in the south of Gaza, Sinwar who had spent 22 years in Israeli prisons before being released in a 2011 prisoner swap, died as he lived: determined to oust colonial occupation.
As commander of Hamas’ military wing, he is said to have planned and organised the October 7 incursions into Israel that left about 1,200 people dead and 250 others taken hostages back into Gaza. He became the overall head of Hamas after Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh last July in Tehran.
His death is being hailed by Israeli as well as American leaders. Complicit in the ongoing Gaza genocide President Joe Biden called it a “good day” for Israel and the US. He sounded rather delusional though as he went on to assert “there is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
Talking in similar vein, his Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington would redouble efforts in the days ahead to end the conflict in Gaza. Little has changed on the ground.
Hamas remains resilient like before despite several US-Israeli attempts to get rid of it since 2004 assassination of its wheelchair-bound founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and in the recent days, some of its top commanders. It will soon get a new leader.
Fresh recruits also keep replacing its fallen fighters. Hamas’ struggle is about the very existence of Palestinian people in whatever is left to them of historic Palestine.
Reflective of the prevailing Palestinian sentiments seem to be these comments of a Gaza resident: “Israel assassinated Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, [deputy chairman of its political bureau] Saleh al-Arouri, and today Sinwar, but the war has not stopped to this day. We are proud of this end to Sinwar.”
If history is any guide military might can cause unspeakable death and destruction but not win a war from ideologically inspired resistance movements like Hamas, Hezbollah, and those associated with them in some other Arab counties. These are dangerous times for all people and states in the Middle East, and beyond.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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