by Matt Duss

The New York Times: Yahya Sinwar’s Death Can End This War

On October 17, the Israeli military confirmed that it had killed Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader and mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attacks, in a military operation in southern Gaza.

With him no longer commanding Hamas, there is a new opening for the U.S. to push for a ceasefire and hostage release in the Gaza War and move toward de-escalation and enhancing human security in the region, argues CIP Executive Vice President Matt Duss in a new essay in The New York Times:

If Mr. Sinwar truly was the obstacle to a cease-fire agreement that U.S. officials — including President Biden — have claimed, that obstacle is now gone. The United States and its partners have a window to halt the downward spiral to regional conflagration. The Biden administration must press the Netanyahu government and remaining Hamas officials to end the war in Gaza, return hostages to their families, surge humanitarian aid into the territory and urgently take other steps to ensure that Gazans have adequate shelter, supplies and security as winter approaches.

The Biden administration declared in May that Israel had already achieved the stated desire of military degradation of Hamas, ensuring the organization would not be able to launch another attack on the scale of October 7. Those conditions are only more true today, but getting Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu to the negotiation table will take more than just a statement of facts, it will take the exercise of leverage. Duss continues:

All of that will require fresh diplomatic pressure on both sides, including a willingness for the Biden administration to withhold offensive arms to Israel if it does not cooperate. The United States should simultaneously renew its abandoned push for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon that allows civilians to safely return to their homes on both sides of the border. In furtherance of those aims, the Biden administration should also urge Israel to refrain from potentially escalatory strikes on Iran.

You can read the full piece in the New York Times.