Yahya Sinwar’s Death Unlikely to Change Anything

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Throughout the assault on Gaza and the strip’s civilian population, Western leaders have been accused of continuing to support Israel even after Tel Aviv has taken actions directly in opposition to their desired policies.

Now, following the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the same leaders seem to be repeating past errors of believing that Israel will respect the wishes of its allies.

Sinwar’s body wasn’t cold before Prime Minister Netanyahu said “this is the beginning of the day after Hamas,” while in the exact same speech saying “the war is not over,” a statement echoed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called for the continuation of the offensive until “total victory”.

These statements are in direct contrast with IDF military leaders’ opinions on the war—namely that Hamas cannot be defeated or eliminated militarily. Unnamed IDF officials told Channel 12 in February that even if Hamas as an organization that Sinwar headed could be dismantled, “the group will continue to fight Israel as ‘a terror group and a guerrilla group'”.

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi followed that sentiment up in June by telling a security conference, “you cannot completely get Hamas to disappear because it’s an idea, a concept. So you need a competing, alternative concept,” a viewpoint also shared by Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, who said Netanyahu’s stated policy is unachievable.

“This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear—it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” he said. “Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a party. It’s rooted in the hearts of the people—whoever thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong”.

The opinions of these military men should have served as a guideline for Western leaders’ foreign policy towards Israel’s genocidal conduct as ruled as such by the International Court of Justice.

Can do no wrong

Netanyahu and his cabinet have embarrassed France significantly by launching their invasion of Lebanon, as it was preceded by meetings at the UN General Assembly and Security Council that saw President Emanual Macron state there “cannot, must not be war in Lebanon”.

“We are firmly calling on Israel to stop the escalation in Lebanon and Hezbollah to stop firing towards Israel,” Macron said. “Israel, cannot – without consequence, just expand its operations to Lebanon”.

Macron said he had dispatched the highest diplomat in the nation, Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné to negotiate a reduction of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel. Reuters reported at the time that the US was also involved, as was the Lebanese government.

The office of Netanyahu said he hadn’t even responded to proposals to review discussions on de-escalation and said he had instructed the armed forces to continue fighting as they were, Two days later, Israel used a 2,000-pound bomb with a JADM kit provided by the US to assassinate Hezbollah founder Hassan Nasrallah.

Yet Macron seems to have taken the complete rejection of Paris’ concerns, being the former colonial masters of Lebanon and still deeply involved in the country’s affairs, without any indignation, judging by recent comments from the president regarding the assassination of Yahya Sinwar.

Macron recently said he hoped that Sinwar’s death would open a credible political perspective for both Israelis and Palestinians. The French president was not only a leading proponent of preventing conflict in Lebanon, but is probably the most vocal member of the G5, G7, and UN Sec. Council calling for a two-state solution.

All of these events of course were preceded by the farce at the UN Security Council in February when the United States exercised its veto three times in a row to block orders that would have forced Israel to cease its assault on Gaza. The justification was that the US was already busy working out a ceasefire agreement with Israel, for which the UN order would get in the way. Israel never took US negotiations seriously, and had already declared them as having ended by the time the US exercised the veto.

The West’s inability to secure their own interests on and off Israel’s battlefields, and unwillingness to take any further actions when their interests are ignored, are becoming routine features of this genocidal conflict. WaL