De-escalation questionable

What does Sinwar’s death mean for the Middle East war?

(Bild: AFP/Mohammed Abed)

On Thursday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as the "beginning of the end" of the war in the Gaza Strip. But what does the death of the 61-year-old, who is considered the mastermind of the massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, really mean?

Netanyahu saw Sinwar's death as a sign of "the demise of Hamas' reign of evil" in the Gaza Strip, while US President Joe Biden even spoke of a "good day" for the world. There was also a chance of a political solution that would offer Israelis and Palestinians alike a better future, said Biden. Sinwar was an obstacle to this, which no longer exists. "But there is still a lot of work ahead of us," he warned.

Iran: resistance strengthened by Sinwar's death
However, even after the death of the Hamas terror chief, the fighting in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon is not expected to subside. Quite the opposite: on Friday, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon announced the transition to a new, intensified phase of confrontation with Israel. And Iran's leadership declared that the spirit of resistance would be strengthened by the death of Sinwar.

Netanyahu also wants to continue the fight against Hamas. Evil has been dealt a blow, "but our task is not yet complete", the Prime Minister announced on Thursday evening. Despite this, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued his efforts to bring an end to the Gaza war, which has been going on for over a year, with telephone calls to his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Following the killing of Sinwar, the governments of Israel and the USA see greater chances of an end to the war in the Middle East, which has been going on for more than a year. Whether the hopes of a de-escalation after months of war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon will actually be fulfilled, however, seems more than questionable.