Netanyahu promises more war, dashing peace hopes after Hamas leader killed

(Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promises to press on with Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon dashed hopes on Friday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar might help end more than a year of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah meanwhile vowed to escalate fighting against Israel and its backer Iran said “the spirit of resistance” would be strengthened by the death of its Palestinian

ally Sinwar in Gaza.Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, was killed during an operation by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday, a pivotal event in the year-long conflict.

Netanyahu called Sinwar’s killing a milestone late on Thursday but vowed to keep up the war, which in recent weeks expanded from fighting against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza into an invasion of southern Lebanon and the bombardment of large swathes of the country.

“The war, my dear ones, is not yet over,” Netanyahu told Israelis, saying fighting would continue until hostages held by Hamas are released.

”We have before us a great opportunity to stop the axis of evil and create a different future,” he added, referring to Iran and its militant allies across the region in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Netanyahu’s comments contrasted with Western leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who said Sinwar’s death offered a chance for the conflict to end.

The U.S. wants to kick-start ceasefire talks and secure the release of hostages, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, adding that Sinwar had been refusing to negotiate.

“That obstacle has obviously been removed. Can’t predict that that means whoever replaces (Sinwar) will agree to a ceasefire, but it does remove what has been in recent months the chief obstacle to getting one,” he said.

One senior diplomat working in Lebanon told Reuters that hopes Sinwar’s death would end the war appeared misplaced.”We had hoped, really throughout this, that getting rid of Sinwar would be the turning point where the wars would end … where everyone would be ready to put their weapons down. It appears we were once again mistaken,” the diplomat said.

Months of efforts by Israel’s chief backer the United States to broker ceasefires with Hamas and Hezbollah have failed as Israel has pressed on with its wars, and its arch foe Iran has looked largely powerless to match Israel’s military might, including U.S. weapons.The conflict has caused the first direct Iranian-Israeli confrontations, including missile attacks on Israel in April and Oct. 1. Netanyahu has vowed to respond to the October attack, which caused little damage. Washington has pressed Israel to limit targets and not strike Iranian energy facilities or nuclear sites.

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