Many Israelis cheered and danced in the streets at the news that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – the chief architect of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel – had been killed.
But his death at the hands of Israeli forces in Gaza on Wednesday has raised concerns among the families of the 101 hostages still held by Hamas.
Meanwhile, few Palestinians believed that Sinwar’s killing would end the devastating year-old war in Gaza.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 42,500 Palestinians, the Hamas-led Health Ministry in Gaza says. It followed Hamas’s attack on Israeli communities on October 7 last year, which killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The people of Israel overwhelmingly supported Sinwar’s killing during a chance encounter with Israeli forces.
In Tiberias, in northern Israel, hundreds of people danced, waved flags and played loud music to the news.
“It’s very tasty,” Nissim Weizmann told the BBC as he sat outside a grocery store in the city.
“He is a bad man and his time has come. This is a gift for everyone, both the Palestinians who are with us and the Jews.”
On a beach just south of Tel Aviv, swimmers cheered and applauded as a lifeguard first announced rumors of the death over a loudspeaker.
But others were more cautious, wondering how Sinwar’s killing would affect the prospects for the release of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
“To be honest, I feel a bit numb,” Anat Ron Kandle told Reuters in Tel Aviv.
‘I am very worried about the hostages and it is very difficult to find faith and hope.
“And I always think about what if that could have been me, [it] could it be my son who was with me?”
Relatives of the remaining 101 hostages still in Gaza gathered in Tel Aviv after the news broke.
They have been demonstrating for months, urging the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire with Hamas to bring their relatives home.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was taken hostage, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Don’t bury the hostages.”
“Now go to the mediators and to the public and present a new Israeli initiative,” she told Reuters.
“If Netanyahu does not seize this moment and does not rise now to pursue a new Israeli initiative – even at the cost of ending the war – it means that he has decided to abandon the hostages in an attempt to prolong the war. strengthen his rule.”
In Gaza, some Palestinians said they believed Sinwar’s death could open a path to ending the war, saying it left Israel with “no reason to continue this genocide.”
“They always said they wanted to eliminate Sinwar to stop this war,” Ali Chameli told Reuters.
But the reality on the ground since his killing was “completely the opposite”, Jemaa Abou Mendi said.
Speaking to AFP news agency, he said: “the war has not stopped and the killings continue unabated.”
Speaking in the town of Khan Younis, which remains largely in ruins after a year of bombings and fighting, Dr. Ramadan Faris said the outcome of the war does not depend on the fate of one person.
“It is a war of extermination against the Palestinian people, as we all know and understand,” he said.
Also in Khan Younis was Lina Anuni, who fled Gaza City with her three children a year ago.
“I was against it [Sinwar] while he was alive and hold him, alongside the Israeli occupation, equally responsible for my suffering and that of 2.3 million Palestinians,” she told the BBC.
“Still, I felt a sense of sadness at his passing,” she added.
One man, who chose not to be identified, told BBC World Service’s Gaza Today program that while there were “differing opinions” about the former Hamas leader, his death would not change things for the people of Gaza.
“I don’t believe this will change the dynamics of the conflict,” he said, citing that the deaths of other high-ranking Hezbollah and Hamas figures – such as Hassan Nasrallah last month – had meant that “nothing fundamental ” changed.
“Instead, tensions escalated further, raising concerns for us as Palestinians,” he said.
Some Palestinians described Sinwar as a martyr.
Yousef Jamal, who said he supported the October 7 attack on Israel, said: “He [Sinwar] did not hide among the displaced, did not seek refuge with enemy prisoners, or retreat into tunnels.”
Yahya Sinwar, 61, is said to have spent much of his time in hiding in tunnels, along with a small team of bodyguards and a “human shield” of hostages captured from Israel.
But reports indicate he met his end in an encounter with an Israeli patrol in southern Gaza. No hostages were found with him.
