Israel’s yearlong military campaign in Gaza has hollowed out the Palestinian militant group Hamas and killed some of its top leaders. But the death of Yahya Sinwar this week deprived the group of its chief strategist and leading proponent of all-out war with Israel. The Israeli military’s top spokesman said in June that it would be impossible to totally destroy Hamas, a stated war aim of Netanyahu. “I don’t think that we will see any dramatic change in the policy of Hamas," said Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and commentator on Palestinian affairs. Without Sinwar, Hamas has lost its most credible leader, who commanded the respect of the group’s many factions throughout the West Bank, Gaza, and in the Palestinian diaspora.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 19, 2024 09:50 UTC