On Sukkot, which is to be a joyous holiday, there was some joyous news, that Yahya Sinwar, the devilish leader of Hamas, the mastermind behind the Oct 7 attacks, was killed by the IDF in Rafah 

While Prime Minister BiBi Netanyahu may get credit for defying US pressure not to invade Rafah, which would have left Sinwar alive to fight another day, it should be remembered that an operational plan to eliminate the leader of Hamas had been presented to Netanyahu at least six times in recent years. The Jerusalem Post staff reported that they had gathered this information about operational plans to kill Sinwar “through conversations with numerous senior figures in the security establishment, both past and present.”

Unlike Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who spent his time between secrete apartments and hidden bunkers since 2006’s  2nd War in Lebanon (before being eliminated recently) prior to Oct 7,Sinwar had not spent most of his time in hiding but maintained a visible presence in Gaza. The IDF conceivably could have taken him out long ago. Well thought out actionable plans were presented that could have been initiated any time.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the plan to eliminate Sinwar  had been put forward to Netanyahu by the three most recent heads of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) during their respective tenures: Yoram Cohen, Nadav Argaman, and the current head, Ronen Bar. The apparently detailed  plan included a variety of  contingencies,  making it capable of targeting any senior Hamas figure in Gaza, not just Sinwar. 

Former Shin Bet head Cohen had previously disclosed in the Meet the Press program that the Shin Bet  had recommended  an "airlift" operation  to target all Hamas's leaders in Gaza. He said he and his successors continued to suggest this to senior government officials, but Netanyahu rejected these proposals  It is clear that the Shin Bet  believed that the threat posed by Hamas’s agenda was significant and ought to be neutralized.

Netanyahu, however, viewed Hamas as an asset not a liability, believing it could be deterred and ensured Qatar was able to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in suitcases of cash  to Hamas. He propped up Hamas to ensure there would be no unified Palestinian leadership in the West Bank (under the Palestinian Authority) and Gaza (under Hamas).Netanyahu’s  conception that Hamas could be deterred such that he could allow Hamas to flourish  proved to be disastrous.

As former Defense Minister and leader of Yisrael Beitenu Avigdor Liberman told the Jerusalem Post "I read that Netanyahu denied Ben Caspit's report about avoiding at least six attempts to eliminate Sinwar. Netanyahu can continue to deny it as much as he wants. He's the one who granted immunity to Yahya and the leaders of Hamas, preventing any attempts to neutralize them.

"I'm stating this not as mere speculation but as someone with personal knowledge of the matter."

Sinwar was one of the 1000 Palestinian prisoner’s released when Netanyahu made the deal for the return of Gilad Shalit. His take away was that Israel would do anything to return hostages, a lesson he kept in mind in developing his monstrous Oct 7 attacks.

Sinwar had been serving time in an Israeli jail and had his life saved when Israel gave him a medical operation for a brain tumour. A strange twist of fate.

Sinwar had surrounded himself with Israeli hostages as human shields and many did not expect Israel to succeed in ever taking him out, without harming the lives of hostages. Sinwar’s final demise came is the result of sheer happenstance. Israeli soldiers were in a firefight in Rafah with a group of terrorists holed up on the ground floor of a building .The building collapsed after an Israeli tank fired at it, and troops found a body that they thought looked like Sinwar.

While I hope his death may give rise to an opportunity for Israel to get Hamas to agree to release the hostages, I am not at all sure that will be the case. Especially since Sinwar’s brother may be the defacto leader of Hamas, who is as devilish as Sinwar.