Middle East: Hamas vows to hold hostages until Gaza war ends

Former US President Donald Trump welcomed the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Asked by reporters if Sinwar's death would make peace in the region easier or more difficult to achieve, Trump said, "I think it makes it easier. I'm glad that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] decided to do what he had to do."

Trump said that US President Joe Biden was urging Netanyahu to show too much restraint in the war against Hamas.

"He's trying to hold him back and he probably should be doing the opposite actually," Trump said.

Trump will face off against Kamala Harris, who has served as vice president under Biden, in the November 5 presidential election.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) expressed its condolences for slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Friday night.

In a statement, the organization said it "expresses its condolences to the Palestinian people and all national factions on the martyrdom of the great national leader Yahya Sinwar."

The PLO is seen internationally as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. It controls the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, while Hamas controls Gaza.

In the same statement, the PLO called for "full reclaiming of our rights, including the right of return, the end of the occupation, and the establishment of our Palestinian state on all our occupied territories based on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its eternal capital."

It also accused Israel of committing "massacres and genocide" against the Palestinian people — an accusation Israel has repeatedly denied.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers extended their condolences to the Hamas militant group after its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed in combat with Israel.

"It is with profound sorrow that we have received the news of the martyrdom of Yahya Sinwar," the office of the spokesperson for the Taliban said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"We extend our deepest condolences to … Hamas."

Afghanistan's de-facto government also called on "Muslims worldwide to stand in solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine."

The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 but have not achieved international recognition.

Hezbollah’s death toll in the war with Israel in South Lebanonis around 1,500, according to Israeli estimates. 

The Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) chief of general staff Herz Halevi said the Islamist organization has suffered "great damage."

"An entire chain of command is being wiped out," Halevi said, adding that the organization "hides its fatalities, among them dead commanders."

While visiting ground troops in southern Lebanon, Halevi called the Israeli estimates "conservative" and said the country doesn’t know more about how many people were killed in its airstrikes.

This comes after Hezbollah vowed to keep fighting in Lebanon’s south for as long as the war in Gaza is still going on.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the targeting of the UN’s peacekeeping forces in Lebanon(UNIFIL) is "unacceptable."

The Italian leader is currently visiting Lebanon. At a joint press conference with the Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Meloni said that UNIFIL’s role in the region remains important.

"Only by strengthening UNIFIL while maintaining its impartiality, will we be able to turn the page," Meloni said.

This comes after UNIFIL said an Israeli tank shot at one of its outposts Thursday, causing damage to equipment.

"I consider targeting UNIFIL unacceptable and I ask once again, that all parties strive to ensure at all times that the safety of each of these soldiers is guaranteed," she said

Hamas says it will not release hostages held in Gaza until the end of the war.

"Those prisoners will not return to you before the end of the aggression on Gaza and the withdrawal from Gaza," Khalil Hayya, deputy leader of Hamas in Gaza and the group's chief negotiator, said.

About 100 hostages are remaining in Gaza, at least 30 of whom Israel says are dead.

Hamas and other militants took them during the October 7 terror attacks on Israel last year. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday it is calling up an additional reserve brigade to be deployed on its border with Lebanon as it battles Hezbollah militants.

"In accordance with the situational assessment, the IDF is calling up an additional reserve brigade for operational missions in the northern arena," it said. 

Hezbollah said Friday it was entering a new phase in its war against Israel.

Israel has vowed to keep fighting Hezbollah until it secures its northern border.

Khalil Hayya, deputy leader of Hamas in Gaza, confirmed the death of the group's leader, Yahya Sinwar.

In a video statement released on Friday he said Sinwar died in combat.

It comes a day after the Israel Defense Forces said Sinwar was killed in a military operation in Gaza.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday promised continued support for Israel while expressing hope for a cease-fire in Gaza.

"Israel has the right to defend itself. It's important for me to say this very clearly. We stand on the side of Israel," Scholz said during a press conference with US President Joe Biden in Berlin.

Scholz, Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are set to discuss the conflict in the Middle East during a joint meeting later on Friday.

Scholz added that he hoped the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar would pave the way for a cease-fire with the Palestinian militant group.

"With the death of the Hamas leader Sinwar ... hopefully the concrete prospect will now open up for a cease-fire and an agreement to release the hostages in Gaza," he said. 

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, criticized Iranian interference in his country after Iran's parliament speaker suggested Tehran could negotiate with France over UN Resolution 1701.

The resolution aims, among other things, to keep southern Lebanon's border to Israel peaceful by creating a buffer zone where the only armed personnel are Lebanese troops. It also calls for the disarming of Hezbollah and other militias in Lebanon.

Mikati stressed negotiations to implement it was a matter for Lebanon alone. 

"We are surprised by this position, which constitutes a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish a rejected guardianship over Lebanon," he said.

Israel claims the UN and the UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon have failed to enforce Resolution 1701 by keeping Hezbollah militants out of southern Lebanon, contributing to the current conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold a meeting with ministers and heads of security agencies following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, according to Israeli media outlets.

The Haaretz newspaper reported that the meeting would examine how Sinwar's death might affect negotiations on releasing hostages still held captive in Gaza.

Israeli allies, including the US, expressed hope that Sinwar's death could pave the way for an end to the conflict. 

However, in a speech yesterday announcing the killing, Netanyahu stated, "our war is not yet ended."

US President Joe Biden is expected to renew calls for a cease-fire in Gaza on Friday as he meets with key European allies in Berlin — a day after Israel said it killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Biden landed in the German capital on Thursday night local time ahead of talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Before leaving Washington, Biden said: "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."

He said Sinwar, who Israel holds responsible for orchestrating the October 7 terror attacks, had been an obstacle to a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza, and called his death a "good day."

Chancellor Scholz, speaking in Brussels on Thursday, said: "There is a proposal from President Biden and others as to what such a ceasefire could look like and we fully support that."

Germany's Foreign Ministry on Thursday evening issued a statement after reports of Sinwar's death, calling for the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and for the militant group to "lay down its weapons." 

"The suffering of the people in Gaza must finally end," it added. 

Some 100 hostages abducted on October 7 are still thought to be held in Gaza. 

Drone footage released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) appears to show Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the moments before he was killed.

In the video, taken from an IDF drone which appears to have flown into the ruins of a bombed out house in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, a dust-covered and hooded figure can be seen sitting in an armchair, visibly injured.

The figure, which the IDF having later checked DNA records says is Sinwar, appears to throw a small plank of wood at the drone before the camera turns away and the video ends.

The house was then reportedly targeted again by the IDF before soldiers moved in and discovered Sinwar's body.

Speaking late on Thursday night, IDF spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said Sinwar was killed after three "terrorists" were spotted running from house to house in the Tal El Sultan area of Rafah.

He said Sinwar was found in possession of a gun, various identification documents and 40,000 Israeli shekels ($10,763 or €9,924).

He add that the IDF had also found traces of Sinwar's DNA in a tunnel close to where six hostages were killed a few weeks ago.

Iran, which supports Hamas, appeared to confirm the veracity of the footage when its official mission to the United Nations posted a screenshot the video.

Describing Sinwar as a "martyr," they said it showed him "standing on the battlefield in combat attire and out in the open, not in a hideout, facing the enemy."

There were celebrations across Israel on Thursday night following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

One video showed people clapping and whistling in a residential area in the southern town of Ashdod while another showed jubilant beachgoers responding to a loudspeaker announcement.

Relatives of the 101 hostages who are still being held in Gaza welcomed the news but also renewed demands to bring their relatives home.

"We settled the score with mass murderer Sinwar but ... there will be no real closure, there will be no total victory, if we don't save lives and bring them home," Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still being held captive in Gaza, told the Jerusalem Post.

In a post on social media addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, she added: "Don't bury the hostages. Go now to the negotiators and the Israeli public and present a new Israeli initiative."

Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel's National Security Council, told Israeli Channel 12 News that Israel must use Sinwar's death to present its conditions for ending the wars on both fronts.

"The opportunity to end the war entirely, as well as in Lebanon ... is entirely in our hands," he said.

In a video message, Netanyahu said: "While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it's the beginning of the end."

He had earlier called Sinwar's death an "important landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamas" but warned: "The war ... is not over yet."

Yahya Sinwar had been the leader of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip since 2017.

He was considered to have orchestrated the October 7 terror attacks on Israel in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and another 250 taken hostage, prompting Israeli retaliation and the ongoing conflict across the region.

After Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in the Iranian capital Tehran in August, Sinwar, considered more radical than Haniyeh, also took over that role — although he hadn't actually been seen in public since October 7.

Sinwar was born in 1962 in southern Gaza's Khan Younis refugee camp. His family hailed from the area around the coastal town of Ashkelon, which is now part of Israeli territory.

When Hamas was formed during the first Palestinian uprising, the Intifada, at the end of the 1980s in the fight against Israeli occupation, Sinwar contributed to setting up Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades.

In the early years of Hamas' existence, he was responsible for the fight against individuals within the organization's own ranks suspected of collaborating with Israel. He was later handed four life sentences for killing two Israeli soldiers and several Palestinians who he suspected of collaboration.

Sinwar spent more than 20 years in Israeli prison, during which he is said to have learned Hebrew. He was released in 2011 by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a prisoner exchange.

When Sinwar was made Hamas head in July, Kobi Michael from the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, told DW he was popular among many Palestinians and seen as the "spearhead of armed resistance" against Israel.

Sinwar was considered a terrorist by the US and the European Union and was Israel's most-wanted man in Gaza, he added.