Yahya Shinuar is definitely off the list of problems for Israel or to be precise from the "living" problems as the apparently dead head of Hamas raises issues for Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Hamas leader was killed Wednesday afternoon in a building in Tal Ash Sultan in Rafah, south of Gaza. Details of when and how the Israeli army identified and neutralized Sinuar were revealed by an Israeli military source on protothema.gr.
A reconnaissance team of the Israeli army on a routine check on a road in this area came across a group of five men, who, when they perceived a military presence, started throwing grenades at them. According to the IDF source, the non-special forces army unit returned fire, killing four of them. The fifth entered a house which was close to him and fell asleep.
The Israeli army team, following the "protocol" of the Gaza field, activated a surveillance drone with a camera, which entered the house, in order to find the specific man, but also to identify him. The man started throwing rocks and sticks at the drone as his gun was out of bullets and out of ammunition.
Watch a video of Sinuar's last moments below:
Along with the drone, the group of Israeli soldiers covered the whole area with a sniper sniper, who, based on the information of protothema.gr, is in the army doing his duty in the last months. The sniper, despite not being more than 20 years old, found the right spot and, when ordered by his unit commander, executed the man, who was none other than Sinuar, with a shot to the head.
The dangers to Israel from a headless Hamas
Videos of Israelis rejoicing over Sinwar's death may have filled social media with the first announcement of his end, but this in no way means that all of Israel has set up a "celebration" and on the other hand, there were correspondingly many - if not more – the videos from the families of the hostages who are now asking the Prime Minister of the country for the return of their own people now that the "Sinouar barrier" is no longer there.
Sinwar may have been Israel's enemy number one and the mastermind behind the black day that saw more than 1000 Israelis die, but inside Gaza he was the person who held the balance even with the Lane ruins. But why is a balance within Hamas important to Israel? With Hamas headless and with absolutely no scope for a worthy successor in the leadership chair – all that remains is the confirmation that Yahya's brother Mohammed Sinwar is also dead – the surviving members of the organization have no "narrative" of battle.
This in itself is not negative if the reduction is made in Western logical frameworks. For members of Hamas, the organization's hard core, the next few days may be days of revenge for Sinwar, even if it means that they themselves will fall dead. Within this context of revenge the first thing they will want to do is execute those of the 101 hostages who have remained alive and do it in a way that will hurt Israel even more.
For Netanyahu, who especially in the last month and a half has managed to dismantle not one but two organizations, the scenario of the hideous execution of all the Israeli hostages still alive in Gaza by members of Hamas is a nightmare. Sinwar is dead and probably so is Hamas, or at least the organization as we knew it until today. However, Israel's problems remain and the popular demand from the secular state of Israel for a permanent solution to Gaza comes back into the equation. Netanyahu, who lately, when polled without his far-right partners, sees his percentages moving upwards, must quickly give this specific answer to society and the families of the hostages.
However, "Bibi" is already under pressure from abroad. Yesterday's phone call with Joe Biden, in addition to "congratulations" also had "I want" the US to still have at least 8 of its own citizens inside Gaza. Joe Biden asked Netanyahu for a draft agreement in order to deal with the issue of the humanitarian crisis in addition to the hostages. Analysts estimate that a new cease-fire plan will reach Tel Aviv immediately and this time there will be no "objection" on the table from the retreating Hamas. The ball will only be in Israel's "court" this time.
It is a given that after yesterday's message to the remaining "cells" of Hamas "lay down your arms and you will live" the Prime Minister of Israel will proceed immediately - if not already at the time of this writing - in a coordinated and large-scale operation scanning the Lane to see if it can find hostages. If this plan fails the "ghost" of Sinuar will bring trouble.
Source: protothema.gr
