What does the killing of Hamas leaders and Netanyahu’s belligerent approach mean for the hostages?
As Hamas considers its leadership options following the killing of its political leader Ismail Haniyeh, attention is turning to the Palestinian militant group’s chief on the ground in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Israel believes Sinwar is the man who orchestrated the October 7 terror attacks and has been both pursuing, and seeking to kill him, ever since. Following the targeted killings of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ top political leader in Iran, and Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander in southern Beirut, Israel has said that it is prepared for possible retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah. Yet the families of the 115 remaining hostages in Gaza fear that the escalation will make a cease-fire deal even more elusive. Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel have so far been unsuccessful, and the threat of a wider conflict in the region appears to be growing. Israel has neither claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death nor denied it. Chapter Breakdown: 0:00 Efforts underway in Middle East to calm rising tensions, while hunt for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar continues 3:24 Matthew Levitt, Director of Counter-Terrorism Program, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explains why Israel has been unable to find and kill Sinwar so far 9:11 DW’s Tania Krämer reports on fears of families of hostages still being held in Gaza 11:53 Colin Clarke, counter-terrorism analyst, Director of Research at Soufan Group, discusses Sinwar’s delayed response to developments in cease-fire negotiations, and argues that neither Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar nor Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu are concerned by civilian deaths #haniyeh #sinwar #hamas Credit to : WION