The Defence Minister of Israel Yoav Gallant had publicly said that Israel would hunt down new Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and kill him…reports Asian Lite News
After Hamas announced Yahya Sinwar, the military head of the organisation, as its political head, the power centre of the militant organisation is to shift to Gaza in Palestine.
Yahya Sinwar is replacing Ismail Hanieyh, the political head of Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran allegedly by Israel on July 31.
Haniyeh and his predecessor Khalid Mashal had operated out of Doha, Qatar, while they were heading Hamas. However, Sinwar — considered by Israel as the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 killing spree — is believed to be living in the network of tunnels of the Hamas near either Rafah or Khan Younis region of southern Gaza.
The spokesperson of Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, in a press statement on Tuesday night after Hamas announced Sinwar as its political head, said: “Yahya Sinwar is a terrorist, who is responsible for the most brutal terrorist attack in history — October 7. There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and it is beside Mohammed Deif and the rest of the October 7 terrorists. That is the only place we’re preparing and intending for him.”
The Defence Minister of Israel Yoav Gallant had also publicly said that Israel would hunt down Yahya Sinwar and kill him.
Sinwar joined Hamas in 1987 when it was founded by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and had served 27 years in Israeli prisons over four jail terms. He is well-versed in Hebrew and has always been considered the most ruthless of Hamas leaders.
With Yahya Sinwar becoming the most powerful leader of Hamas, it has to be seen how the indirect peace talks being carried out at the behest of the United States, Qatar and Egypt would move forward.
According to Israel, of the 251 hostages captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023, after the massacre and mayhem, 111 are still under the custody of Hamas. This includes 39 dead and Yahya Sinwar is believed to be hiding in the tunnels surrounded by these hostages.
Hezbollah drone attack on Israel
Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah announced that it launched drones on military targets in northern Israel on Tuesday.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it launched an air attack “with a squadron of suicide drones that targeted the headquarters of the Golani Brigade and the headquarters of the Egoz Unit 621 in the Shraga barracks north of occupied Acre”.
Confrontations between Hezbollah and the Israeli army escalated following Israel’s attack on Dahieh in Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing Hezbollah senior military commander Fouad Shokor and seven civilians, Xinhua news agency reported.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah threatened a “definite and painful” response to the Israeli raid at the appropriate time and place.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas’ attack on Israel the day before.
Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.
A suicide drone also known as a loitering munition, or exploding drone, is a kind of aerial weapon with a built-in warhead that is typically designed to loiter around a target area until a target is located, then attack the target by crashing into it.
Egypt, Jordan leaders hold talks
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi spoke by phone with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan.
The two leaders discussed the regional situation, especially in the Gaza Strip.
They reviewed the intensive contacts by the two countries to contain the tense situation in the Middle East.
The two leaders stressed the priority of achieving calm at the current stage, especially reaching an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in the Strip, to de-escalate the tension and end the humanitarian catastrophe that the people of Gaza are facing.
They stressed that the main guarantor for restoring stability in the region is to find a political horizon to achieve a just and comprehensive peace, based on the two-state solution, which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Qatar, Jordan review situation
Qatar and Jordan emphasised that stopping the war on the Gaza Strip represents the first step to defusing tension and escalation in the region.
This came when Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani received a phone call on Tuesday from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Dr. Ayman Al Safadi.
According to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the ministers discussed cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to support and develop them, the developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, the repercussions of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran, and ways to calm down and de-escalate the situation in the region.
They also stressed the continuation of coordination, consultation, and joint work between the two countries to stop the war and put an end to the humanitarian disaster witnessed by the Gaza Strip.
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