With elections right around the corner, something happened that may alter the war in Gaza. On October 16th, 2024 the leader of the group Hamas, who was elected Hamas political bureau in August 2024 was found dead. He was best known as the mastermind of Hamas’s October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel. He was thought to be undercover most of the time after the attack.
What does this mean for the war in Gaza? Well, many articles said that the war isn’t over but it moved to a new phrase, what that phase is, many people are unsure, but many believe that the end of the war is near. Before his death, Sinwar seemed very opposed to the idea of compromise, so his death made a settlement more of a possibility. But at the same time, Prime Minister of Israel,
Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Singer's death “settled the score” but the war in Gaza would not stop until all the hostages were safely returned. There has been communication between the US and Israel, but mostly about the celebration of Singer's death, but Biden has a plan to convince Israel to focus on the conflict in Gaza. Biden will most likely further use Singer's death to push the Prime minister of Israel to end the war in Gaza. Still, the Prime Minister wants to wait for Biden’s term to be over, hoping there will be a better connection and relationship with either Trump or Harris.
President Biden has said that the death of Sinwar is good news after two decades of Hamas’s rule over Gaza, "for Israel, for the United States, and for the world." Other U.S. officials also agree and say that it brings new hope for a suspension in the year-long war. American diplomats say it is definitely a great success but they see many challenges ahead. Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a resident senior fellow with the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative said, "Israel, Arab nations, and the United States should now offer mass amnesty for remaining Hamas members who lay down their arms and stop fighting," he added. "They should also offer financial rewards to those who either turn in Israeli hostages or provide information leading to the whereabouts of remaining abductees." To simplify this he said that the U.S. as an ally should help in whatever they can, in this case financially should help. The US, Israel's main weapon supplier, has actively supported Iran-supported groups like Hama, which they call terrorist groups, but tensions have been higher as the US officials push Israel to improve living circumstances in Gaza and cut back striking residential areas. The US is hoping for a change as this year-long war has gone on for too long. As U.S. elections are around the corner, Israel is trying to weaken Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They want to establish control over areas to create changes before a new president takes office. Israel wants to ensure that its enemies and their chief patron, Iran, don't regroup and threaten Israeli citizens again. But, Biden has taken this opportunity to tell the Prime Minister of Israel, Netanyahu, that Sinwar had a lot of blood on his hands and it was a perfect opportunity to make peace. Biden and I think everyone wants to see this problem resolved.
Sources:
- https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/after-hamas-leader-yahya-sinwars-death/story?id=114924572
- https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/after-sinwars-death-israel-aims-lock-strategic-gains-before-us-election-2024-10-18/
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-yahya-sinwar-hamas-leader-killed-gaza-war-reaction-biden-netanyahu/
- https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-does-yahya-sinwars-death-mean
3 comments:
Even with the death of Sinwar I don't see this war ending anytime soon. War in this area of the world has been going on for so long, and personally I don't see any good solution to the dispute. There is never going to be a world were either side is fully satisfied, and the only way one side will be satisfied is if their is lots of bloodshed on the other. I believe that the best option for the US is to try to keep the war at a standstill and not make it more violent than it has to be, but with the election of Donald Trump I don't see this happening. No president will be able to satisfy the needs of both Palestinians and Israeli's, but I do believe that both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would be better able to keep the violence lower than Trump. In my opinion, it is pretty clear that if the war isn't close to resolved by the time Trump get's into office, which it probably won't be, the war will become extremely escalated.
I agree that everyone wants to see this conflict ended one way or another. However, the method to do so is going to change from person to person. While the US might be the main suppliers of Israel's funding and weapons, Biden has at least tried to restrain the Israeli army from creating a worse humanitarian crisis. Some people think that ending the war is going to be best achieved by total annihilation of Hamas, while others think that the damage already done has been more than enough.
In terms of Sinwar's death and the potential end of the Gaza war, I think we need to take into account the extremely right wing and religious Likud political party that currently controls Israel's government. It is the most extreme conservative group that has ruled Israel in its entire history. This, in combination with the extremely conservative Trump presidency will likely continue to further the war until both Netanyahu and Trump are satisfied. Trump has made it clear that he will not place any restraints on the Israeli military, and this will likely lead to further excursions and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
While I hope for the war in Gaza to come to a peaceful end soon I don't really see it happening anytime soon. There doesn't seem to be anything else happening that would really make either side stop. It’s interesting to consider how Trump might approach this situation following his recent election, especially since one of his main campaign points was his success in maintaining peace, with no new wars occurring during his previous term. I'm curious to see if he will be able to keep his word and be able to get this war to end peacefully, or will it just keep continuing until one side is forced to give up. personally, I don't see Trump being able to make this war magically end though after all this fighting and conflict for the past decades.
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