Jerusalem — Hezbollah vowed Friday to escalate its war with Israel a day after Israel Defense Forces said they had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 Hamas terror attack that sparked the Gaza war.
The IDF said Thursday its forces — apparently by chance and without knowledge of Sinwar's location — encountered him and two other militants in a southern Gaza building and opened fire.
Israel almost immediately suspected it had killed the 61-year-old Sinwar but only confirmed it after hours of investigation, including checking his DNA and dental records.
In a televised statement Friday, the head of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, confirmed Sinwar's death, saying Hamas honors "the memory of the fallen martyr, Yahya Sinwar." Describing him as "steadfast, brave and intrepid," al-Hayya said Sinwar "sacrificed his life to the cause of our liberation."
He said that the captives held in Gaza would not be released until the occupation's authorities stop their attacks on Gaza and withdraw their forces from the besieged enclave.
Hezbollah, in a statement, while making no mention of Sinwar or his death, announced "a transition to a new and escalatory phase in the confrontation with the Israeli enemy, which will be reflected in the developments and events of the coming days."
Speaking Friday in Berlin, U.S. President Joe Biden called the death of Sinwar a "moment of justice," saying, "He had the blood of Americans and Israelis, Palestinians and Germans, and so many others on his hands."
But he said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas."
Speaking in Brussels on Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, "Of course there is" an opportunity with respect to Gaza now that Sinwar is dead. "We would hope that we can work together to take advantage of that opportunity."
IDF calls up additional brigade
The IDF announced Friday it was calling up an additional reserve brigade for northern Israel. "Its mobilization will allow the continuation of the fighting effort against the terrorist organization Hezbollah and the achievement of the goals of the war, including the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes."
The IDF also said Friday its 188th Brigade continues ground activity in southern Lebanon. It reported that troops destroyed dozens of warehouses filled with munitions, several shafts, and enemy infrastructure.
The IDF reported that an airstrike destroyed Hezbollah's regional headquarters "from which many launches were made toward the northern settlements in recent months."
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday accused Iran of meddling in domestic affairs, according to The New York Times, which says the unusual diplomatic rift occurred after Iran's parliament speaker said Tehran was prepared "to help negotiate terms to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah."
Rebukes by top Lebanese officials are rare in the country where Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters maintain a political stranglehold on domestic affairs.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Friday that it detected 966 projectiles in the past 24 hours cross the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon known as the Blue Line; 68 originated in Lebanon and the rest in Israel. UNIFIL also noted 70 air violations by the IDF into Lebanese airspace.
Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, and Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 101 hostages, including 35 the military says are dead.
Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,500 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of militants.
On Friday evening, at least 33 people were killed and 85 wounded in Israeli strikes that hit several houses in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, according to medics who spoke with Reuters and Agence France-Presse. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the death toll from the strikes could rise because some people were believed to be trapped under the rubble and that children were among those killed. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
'Biblical' destruction
More than a year of fighting has largely reduced Gaza to rubble.
"The level of destruction, in certain areas of Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza, is approaching levels of 100%," said Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to housing, in New York, where he delivered his annual report.
He said the scale and intensity of destruction is "biblical" and does not compare to anything seen in modern warfare, dating to World War II.
"One has to ask what is really the goal or military objective of destruction of this scale, which no other military power in any recent conflict has seen necessary in order to win a war," he asked.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says 128 reporters and media workers, all but five of whom are Palestinian, have been killed in Gaza since the war began. CPJ says 126 of the deaths are attributable to Israeli forces. Two Israeli reporters were killed in the October 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel.
Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated as terror groups by the United States and other Western countries.
Nearly three-quarters of Gaza's 2.3 million population is displaced, and nearly the entire population is at risk of famine, according to U.N. officials.
VOA United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
