Hostages Netanyahu still puts own political fate before lives

On Thursday afternoon a lifeguard at a beach in Tel Aviv made an announcement. “Attention all bathers,” he said. “It is not yet 100% confirmed ... but the chances are very high that the rat from the tunnels known as Yahya Sinwar is dead.”

- Bethan McKernan

The beachgoers erupted into cheers in scenes replicated around Israel that evening as the details of the Hamas leader's assassination in Gaza emerged.

For many in Israel, the conclusion of the year-long hunt for the man responsible for the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust was grimly cathartic. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said during a televised address: “We have settled the score.”

How the Hamas leader’s death could impact Israel’s multifront war, and affect the fate of the 100 or so hostages still held in Gaza, is at the forefront of people’s minds. Sinwar, who had the final word on Hamas’s position in ceasefire talks, was said to have repeatedly blocked progress towards a deal.

Dahlia Scheindlin, a Tel Aviv-based political analyst and public opinion expert, said: “There seems to be a consensus that this is a bridge to something. The question is, what is that something?

“There’s a sense this needs to be leveraged quickly, and among the more dovish commentators that means a hostage deal.”