By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2024-10-21 18:05:10 | Updated at 2024-10-22 15:33:46
21 hours ago
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was preparing for his death as Israeli forces closed in on him in Gaza, instructing his terror group not to concede to cease-fire negotiations without him – as experts warn that the war is far from over.
The Oct. 7 mastermind knew his days were numbered following the deaths of top Hamas and Hezbollah officials in recent months, with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination in September triggering Sinwar to leave a message behind for his fighters.
Sinwar told Hamas’ political leaders outside of Gaza that Israel would push for a cease-fire and hostage negotiation deal after his death, but he demanded the group avoid any concessions, Arab mediators familiar with the message told the Wall Street Journal.
The slain Hamas chief was adamant that the terror group would have the upperhand in any negotiations. Sinwar had repeatedly rejected any deal presented to him in favor of extending the war campaign, which he claimed would end in Hamas’ favor.
The terror group appears to be following Sinwar’s advice after its leadership rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer on Friday to surrender and free the remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for their lives.
Sinwar’s final piece of advice was for Hamas to appoint a council of leaders to govern Gaza and manage the transition to a new leader following his death, according to the mediators.
It remains unclear who will succeed Sinwar, with many fearing it could be his brother, Mohammed Sinwar, who is widely regarded as a mirror to his older brother’s ideals and credited for helping Hamas organize the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006.
Regardless of who Hamas’ new leader will be, the terror group is unlikely to agree to a cease-fire as its fighters aim for a long guerilla war against Israel, Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC, told CNN.
“[The war] has just started,” Ibish said, warning that Hamas would continue small-scale attacks across Gaza regardless of the civilians being caught in the crossfire.
This is already being played out in northern Gaza, where Hamas battalions repeatedly resurface despite the IDF’s claims that it had cleared out the region twice, all while humanitarian groups say 400,000 people are trapped in the northern warzone.
Despite Israel’s advanced weapons and tactics, Ibish said the Jewish state had little hope of achieving total victory, comparing the war in Gaza to the Vietnam War.
The outcome of the Israel-Gaza reached a new stage of uncertainty following Sinwar’s death last Thursday, where the elusive terror chief was killed in a routine airstrike while attempting to flee from Rafah.
Officials said Sinwar was operating under aliases in southern Gaza as he hid from the Israel Defense Forces by relaying handwritten notes through a handful of aides, according to the WSJ.
Experts had long theorized that Sinwar was sticking with analogue methods of communication to avoid Israel’s advance detection systems.
