TOP STORIES
Yahya Sinwar, Leader Of Hamas, Killed By Israeli Forces | BBC
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, has been killed by Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza, Israel has confirmed. Sinwar had led the armed group in Gaza since 2017 and was described by Israel, the US and UK as the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks - when Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said the killing of the Hamas chief marked not the end but the "beginning of the end" of the year-long war in Gaza.
Lebanon Issues Rare Rebuke To Iran Over ‘Interference’ | Reuters
Lebanon's caretaker prime minister on Friday made a rare rebuke to Iran and said Tehran's envoy should be summoned over reported comments by a senior Iranian official that it would be ready to help "negotiate" to implement a U.N. resolution on Lebanon. Lebanese PM Najib Mikati said in a statement the comments amounted to "a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs". Criticism of Iran by top Lebanese officials is unusual, particularly given Tehran's sponsorship of the powerful Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is currently locked in battles against Israeli troops along Lebanon's southern border. In an interview published in France's Le Figaro on Thursday, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf was quoted as saying his country would be ready to "negotiate" with France to implement United Nations Resolution 1701.
Biden Talks To Netanyahu About Sinwar’s Death And Getting To A Cease-Fire | The New York Times
President Biden said on Thursday that the death of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was killed by the Israeli military on Wednesday, could create the opportunity to “move on” to a cease-fire in Gaza, adding that he had spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to congratulate him on Mr. Sinwar’s death. “It’s time for this war to end and bring these hostages home. So that’s what we’re ready to do,” Mr. Biden told reporters upon his arrival in Berlin on Thursday evening. He added that he was “hopeful” about the prospects of a cease-fire and would be sending Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to Israel in the coming four to five days to discuss securing Gaza and what the “day after” the war will look like.
UANI IN THE NEWS
How Iran Will Respond To Sinwar’s Death | UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky For The Spectator
The death of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar on Thursday is an incredible achievement for Israel. It is also a blow to Iran and its axis of terror across the Middle East. Since July, Israel has decapitated the leadership of Hamas and Hezbollah – with the killings of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, and now Sinwar himself. There has also been the killing of two commanders of the IRGC Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps – Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Abbas Nilforoushan – in this year alone. While the Islamic Republic has suffered from eliminations of its regional henchmen for years, the breadth and depth of Israel’s recent operations is unprecedented.
The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza will make negotiations with Israel' extremely difficult' and could prolong a drawn out war in the region, experts warn... Mark Wallace, CEO at United Against Nuclear Iran and former US Ambassador to the UN, told MailOnline Israel could now be gearing up for a 'decisive, very impactful strike on Iran', adding that Israel's operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and the regime in Tehran 'might mean we are approaching a new dawn in the region'.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
US Sanctions Two Indians For Alleged Links With Houthi Network Transporting Iranian Oil | News 18
The US has sanctioned two Indians for their alleged ties to a Houthi network transporting Iranian oil to raise funds for its activities in disrupting shipping in the Red Sea region and attacking Israel. Both are linked to a Sharjah-based Indo Gulf Ship Management (IGSM) company — Rahul Rattanlal Warikoo Rattanlal as Managing Director and Dipankar Mohan Keot as Technical Manager, according to the US Treasury Department.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Trump Suggests He Would Not Seek Iran Regime Change | Iran International
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump appeared to rule out seeking regime change in Iran, saying he wanted the country to succeed but it could not be permitted to have nuclear weapons. “I would like to see Iran be very successful. The only thing is, they can't have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in an interview with Iranian-American podcaster Patrick Bet-David on Thursday. Asked if he would like to see Iran change its ruling system, Trump said: “We can't get totally involved in all that. We can't run ourselves, let's face it.”
Kamala Harris said Thursday that Israel’s killing of Hamas’ top leader offers “an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza,” talking plainly about next steps even as the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who gathered outside her campaign event underscored the complicated politics at play. The Democratic presidential nominee said the war “must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Yahya Sinwar Threw Stick At Drone Just Before Death, According To Israel Video | Reuters
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was tracked by an Israeli mini drone as he lay dying in the ruins of a building in southern Gaza and filmed him slumped in a chair covered in dust, according to video released by Israeli authorities on Thursday. As the drone hovered nearby, the video showed him throwing a stick at it, in an apparent act of desperation. After an intensive manhunt that had lasted for more than a year, the Israeli troops that killed Sinwar were initially unaware that they had caught their country's number one enemy after a gun battle on Wednesday, Israeli officials said.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Who Was Yahya Sinwar, The Hamas Leader Israel Says It Killed? | Associated Press
Yahya Sinwar masterminded an attack on Israel that shocked the world, unleashing a still-widening catastrophe with no end in sight. In Gaza, no figure loomed larger in determining the war’s trajectory than the 61-year-old Hamas leader. Obsessive, disciplined and dictatorial, he was a rarely seen veteran militant who learned Hebrew over years spent in Israeli prisons and who carefully studied his enemy. On Thursday, Israel said troops in Gaza had killed Sinwar. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas of his death. The secretive figure feared on both sides of the battle lines engineered the surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel, along with the even more shadowy Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ armed wing. Israel said that it killed Deif in a July airstrike in southern Gaza that killed more than 70 Palestinians.
AFGHANISTAN & IRAN
UN Urges Probe Into Reports Of Afghan Migrants Killed At Iran Border | Iran International
The United Nations' mission in Afghanistan has called for an investigation into reports that a large group of Afghan migrants was shot and killed while attempting to cross into Iran. In a statement on Thursday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed "deep concern over disturbing reports of an incident on 14 to 15 October in Sistan province, Sarbaz district, Kala Gan border area of Iran, with allegations that a large group of Afghan migrants were opened fire on, resulting in deaths and injuries."
TURKEY & IRAN
Turkish Foreign Minister Warns Of Israel-Iran War Sparking Global Conflict | The Jerusalem Post
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has warned that a war between Israel and Iran could spark a global conflict, raising the prospect of World War III. Speaking on Saturday, Fidan emphasized the high likelihood of war in the region amid ongoing crises. “We need to be prepared for this as a country and region,” he stated, as reported by Daily Sabah. According to Fidan, any confrontation between Israel and Iran would likely involve the United States, significantly increasing the risk of a global war. He criticized Israel's actions for pushing the region closer to the brink, adding that Turkey is committed to preventing the conflict from expanding.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Meloni: Italy Imposed Full Arms Embargo On Israel Over Gaza Ground Op | Jewish News Syndicate
The Italian government blocked all new arms deals with the Jewish state just weeks after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday, the local ANSA news agency reported. “After the start of [Israeli military] operations in Gaza, the government immediately suspended all new export licenses, and all agreements signed after October 7th were not implemented,” the Italian leader stated during a debate at Italy’s Senate ahead of Thursday’s European Council summit.