JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, has been killed by Israeli forces in the Palestinian enclave, Hamas confirmed on Friday.
Following is some of the reaction:
HAMAS
"The martyrdom of our brother, the leader Yahya Sinwar ... will only increase the strength and resolve of Hamas and our resistance."
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
"The war, my dear ones, is not yet over."
"We have before us a great opportunity to stop the axis of evil," he added, referring to Iran and its militant allies across the region, also in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
Sinwar's death provides the opportunity for a "day after" in Gaza without the militant group in power. "Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us."
CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU
"Yahya Sinwar, the brutal leader of the terrorist organization Hamas, has been eliminated by the IDF. Under Sinwar’s leadership, Hamas carried out the horrific atrocities of October 7, sought to destroy Israel, and launched senseless, devastating terror attacks on civilians across the region. Today delivers a measure of justice for his victims and their families. Sinwar’s death ends a reign of terror."
FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON
"Yahya Sinwar was the main person responsible for the terrorist attacks and barbaric acts of October 7th. Today, I think with emotion of the victims, including 48 of our compatriots, and their loved ones. France demands the release of all hostages still held by Hamas."
LEBANESE ARMED GROUP HEZBOLLAH
"We offer our deepest condolences to the oppressed and struggling Palestinian people, to our struggling brothers in Hamas, to our Arab and Islamic nation ... for the martyrdom of the leader of the Al-Aqsa Flood, the head of Hamas' political bureau, the struggling brother Yahya Sinwar... We affirm our support for the Palestinians."
IRAN'S PRESIDENT MASOUD PEZESHKIAN
"The news of the assassination and martyrdom of... Mr. Yahya Sanwar, was painful for the world's freedom seekers, especially the heroic people of Palestine and a clear sign of the unstoppable crimes of the child-killing Zionist occupier regime."
GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER ANNALENA BAERBOCK
"Sinwar was a brutal murderer and terrorist, who wanted to destroy Israel and its people. As the mastermind of the terror on Oct. 7 he brought death to thousands of people and immeasurable suffering to a whole region. Hamas must now release all hostages and lay down its weapons, the suffering of the people in Gaza must finally end."
ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER GIORGIA MELONI
“With the death of Yahya Sinwar comes the demise of the main perpetrator of the October 7, 2023 massacre.
"My belief is that a new phase must now begin: It is time for all hostages to be released, for an immediate ceasefire to be proclaimed, and for reconstruction to begin in Gaza. We will continue to vigorously support every effort in this direction and for the resumption of a serious and credible political process leading to the two-state solution.”
YEMEN'S HOUTHI MOVEMENT'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR
"My sincere condolences and great blessings to the Hamas movement and the dear Palestinian people for the great leader Yahya Sinwar receiving the medal of martyrdom, facing and not retreating, fighting for the highest and most just cause."
UK DEFENCE SECRETARY JOHN HEALEY
“I, for one, will not mourn the death of a terror leader like Sinwar, someone who was responsible for the terror attack on October the 7th, and I'm conscious like the UK Government is that that triggered not just the darkest, deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Second World War, but it’s triggered since more than a year of conflict and an intolerable level of civilian Palestinian casualties as well.”
CHUCK SCHUMER, DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY LEADER OF U.S. SENATE
"Sinwar in his beliefs and actions have caused so much pain to the Israeli and Palestinian people; and I pray that his elimination from the scene will clear a path to urgently and immediately bring home all the hostages – including the 7 Americans – and negotiate an end to hostilities that will ensure the security of the Israeli people and provide full humanitarian relief and a new path forward for the people of Gaza."
MIKE JOHNSON, REPUBLICAN LEADER OF U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
"With the bloodthirsty leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah now gone, the Biden-Harris Administration must now work in tandem with Israel to apply a maximum pressure campaign against the head of the snake: Iran.
"Despite the Biden-Harris Administration condemning his strategies, Prime Minister Netanyahu has produced multiple watershed victories for Israel such that we are on the precipice of a new day of security and freedom in the Middle East. We cannot let this moment go to waste."