sinwar was the held of hamas. he was said to be the one who was staunchly against most of the peace negotiations, really wanted a lot more than israel was willing to give when you talk to experts in the region. they says two men made it almost impossible to come to an agreement for peace between the israelis and the palestinians. now that sinwar is gone, who are the israelis looking for? what are they hoping to do in gaza? what more is there to do according to them? >> well, if they're looking for someone to negotiate with, they don't have anybody right now. we don't know who is going to fill the vacuum at the top of hamas, which is a severely degraded fighting force. there are no more rockets flying into israeli territory, for example, the head of the political wing, you mentioned at the top of your program, katy, ismail haniyeh was assassinated. yahya sinwar is now gone. there is no one to negotiate with. what is left, really, of this political strategic operational leadership in the group that could, you know,

but yahya sinwar would definitely ya hya sinwar would definitely have — yahya sinwar would definitelybeen one of israel's biggest _ have been one of israel's biggest targets. there have been — biggest targets. there have been occasions where it has been — been occasions where it has been claimed he has been successfully hit in a strike and — successfully hit in a strike and they have proved to be false, — and they have proved to be false, but there are several indications that they may have -ot indications that they may have got yahya sinwar this time but we will— got yahya sinwar this time but we will have to wait and see. one — we will have to wait and see. one of— we will have to wait and see. one of the reasons why people have _ one of the reasons why people have been cautious at this estate _ have been cautious at this estate is— have been cautious at this estate is there has always been an assumption that yahya sinwar has always been surrounded by a human_ has always been surrounded by a human shield of several israeli hostages. there are 101 hostages. there are 101 hostages sti

we'll gauge the significance of yahya sinwar�*s killing for conflict in the middle east.o in the programme — tributes flood in for the former one direction singer liam payne, who's died at the age of 31. liam payne, who's died and in al decoded, we'll be asking whether ai—generated images are harming the art of photography. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the death of the hamas leader yahya sinwar, which he confirmed, offers a chance for peace in the middle east, but warned the war in gaza was not over. yahya sinwar is widely seen as the architect of the october 7th attacks on israel which sparked the year—long war. he'd been israel's number—one target. dna tests were carried out to determine whether sinwar was one of three people killed during a ground operation by israeli troops in the city of rafah today. sinwar is the third senior hamas figure killed by israel in its military operation in gaza. he became hamas chief following the assassination of ismail haniyeh in iran injuly. israel says mohammed deif, commander of hamas�* military wing, was killed

of sinwar's death?well, dana clearly in the coming hours we are going to get a lot more information probably about just the circumstances surrounding yahya sinwar death. just where was he and how did it happen? you know, this mastermind of the october 7, attacks, probably the single head that the israeli government and military has been on the hunt for. this entire time. of course, it's important to point out that american officials, us efforts have also been underway this entire time to try to throughout the course of this conflict liked share any intelligence possible in trying to locate yahya sinwar and his whereabouts. but that task has been incredibly difficult and complicated just by the simple fact that he has been largely believed to be in hiding underground in this vast network of underground tunnels that hamas has in gaza. one us official, i was talking to who would not elaborate on some of the early intelligence surrounding the circumstances of his death. they did suggest that any moment when

sinwar has ruined your lives. what's the message that you hear in that particularly we will continue full force until our hostages are returned. >> that netanyahu will continue with this very hard line in gaza whether it's using additional military effort to go against hamas, but i do agree that this could be a very dangerous time for the hostages because there could be elements of hamas holding the hostages that want to take revenge for the death of sinwar. some will be very happy that he is dead, but others will want to seek retaliation. i must say that netanyahu despite the death of sinwar and the destruction of a large part of hamas' military capabilities and removal of thousands of militants off of the battlefield, he has a very, very challenging palestinian problem. he has 2 million palestinians living in the rubble of gaza right now. they're starving. they're facing health issues and other types of things and then you have 3 million palestinians in the west bank that are living under rather oppressive secur

now, as far as this patrol happening upon yahya sinwar, where they sinwar in the three total. of three people, but he was apparently with there's a lot there are a lot of situations in war where the area is shaped in essence by previous operations. so in this particular case, jim, what you had was, of course the bombing campaign of the israelis, the intelligence efforts, all so those different things coming together in a way that forced sinwar into the tunnel system or into the housing system. we're not sure exactly where he was spending most of his time, but i respect election wasn't it was mostly in tunnels, but he was clearly on the move when the patrol encountered him. that part was the big coincidence that the patrol happen to be there as he was moving if it is indeed him. and that kind of coincidence is the kind of coincidence that can change the course of the war, can change the course of combat and if it airs out, then we have the fact that he is israeli troops involved were doing their job. i and of course, this whole battlefield, if you will, was shaped by the previo

there are members of hamas who are around sinwar in the tunnels of gaza, but ultimately, sinwar is the one who makes the final decision. he was the one who is blocking any deal from going forward, but there's context here. to consider, of course, with the death of the leader of hezbollah, just a few weeks ago, we have not seen an end to the conflict between the israelis and the un hasn't hello, along that lebanese border even into beirut. now so it's not rest assured that this will in fact lead to an end of this conflict. but us officials were we'll certainly see it as an opportunity to push it in that direction. >> thank you. to our kylie atwood and just to recap the possibility the here is that the idf may have killed, yahya sinwar, who is the head of hamas, one of the few leadership left the person and who was the mastermind for october 7? we do not know if that is actually happened because the idf is checking his fingerprints and checking dna. but we will be sticking with the story throughout with much more information on how this happened where this happened, and what it means for

killing, assassination of yahya sinwar, assassination of yahya sinwar, a new chapter of hamas.th of sinwar because he changed the hamas movement and also changed gaza and i think the palestinians in gaza feel they are victims of this lunatic man that took them to and could not promise them anything but death. you to and could not promise them anything but death.— anything but death. you say it is a new chapter, _ anything but death. you say it is a new chapter, what - anything but death. you say it is a new chapter, what are - is a new chapter, what are people likely to succeed sinwar and what might tell us about the direction of the organisation going forward? yes, the direction, i think they are very confused because israel assassinated before ismail haniyeh, he was one of the pragmatic leaders of hamas, but even he supported the terror attacks against israel on the 7th of october. the only man i can think that can replace yahya sinwar as his brother, mohammed sinwar, but i must say, the palestinians in gaza strip and on—site gaza strip, even in the west bank, they do not kno

sinwar was always the bottom line from tony blinken over and over again and bill burns, was that sinwarthe obstacle. haniyeh would agree. he was the other leader. he was then killed in tehran as we know. >> we don't know who will take his place and when. it might be a scramble for leadership. it might be hard for people to make decisions, which would be seen as controversial. i don't know the planning of hamas for this contingency, how automatic it will be. we have it going on with hamas and with hezbollah, two of the proxies iran backs against israel are suddenly facing leadership crisis. i think the most interesting thing would be to explore, put forward what would be a reasonable cease-fire proposal. i think a big question is -- whenever opportunities arise, the decision is whether you take them or press what you see is your tactical advantage. that's a big question for the netanyahu government. >> do you think this could be a bigger opening in terms of if iran does not retaliate now? it's unlikely they would. i was told by senior israeli officials and other diplomatic sources in the

yahya sinwar, important he is to hamas. yahya sinwar. his _ important he is to hamas.ya sinwar, his latest _ important he is to hamas. yahya sinwar, his latest position - important he is to hamas. yahya sinwar, his latest position as - sinwar, his latest position as the overall leader of hamas. i've been in qatar when they chose him and they said he is the one who will order the 7th of october attack and one hamas leader told me that this attack belongs to him so he deserved to be the overall leader of the movement. yahya sinwar was in prison for quite a long time, more than 20 years in the israeli prison, then released backin israeli prison, then released back in 2013 following an exchange deal between hamas and israel to release the captive soldier. since then, he quickly became a big figure in hamas. he was almost in control of the military wing of the movement. his brother mohammed was running part of hamas in khan yunis and even before he became the head of the movement, he was the leaderfor the head of the movement, he was the leader for hamas in gaza, which i th

sinwar was the mastermind of october 7th. the deadliest day for the jewish people sense the holocaust. a terrorist attack that killed 1200 innocent people and included horrific sexual violence and more than 250 hostages taken into gaza including seven americans living and deceased who remained in captivity. a terrorist attack that triggered a devastating war in gaza, a war that has led to unconscionable suffering of many innocent palestinians. and greater instability throughout the middle east. in the past year, american special operations and intelligence personnel have worked closely with their israeli counterparts to locate and track sinwar and other hamas leaders. i commend their work and i will say to any terrorist who kills americans, threatens the american people, or threatens our troops or our interests, know this. we will always bring you to justice. israel has a right to defend itself and the threat that hamas poses to israel must be eliminated. today, there is clear progress toward that goal. hamas is decimated and

talk to us about who sinwar is or was, and his significance. >> so, yahya sinwar is believed to be the mastermind of the october 7th attacks and israel vowed to kill him. in many ways, this was a personal, and has always been a personal fight between netanyahu, the people of israel, hamas and yahya sinwar. and the numerous attempts to reach a cease-fire, according to negotiators i speak with directly, is because of the sinwar and netanyahu. so if it is, in fact, confirmed that he was killed in a gun fight in southern gaza, in the city of rafah, if that is, in fact, true, it could potentially be an opening because he would have to be replaced. the hamas leadership is in a state of disarray. his replacement could be someone who is more amenable toward cease talks. or it could provide prime minister netanyahu with an opportunity to soften his stance and pull back somewhat. that has not been what israel has been doing in the last several weeks. they've been pushing hard in gaza, pushing hard in lebanon. as we saw in lebanon, by decapitating the leadership, israel was able to knock hezbolla

also, the details on the death of hamas leader yahya sinwar. we spoke to the pathologist who performed his autopsy and how a cutoff finger helps get the dna to identify him. that's ahead here in tel aviv as hell. i work hard. i scraped to get by donald trump wants to give tax breaks to billionaires, but kamala harris has plans to help us she's going to crack down on price gouging and cut taxes for working people like me. i voted for donald trump before, but this time i'm voting for kamala because responsible for the content of this ad. >> hey, folks, chris kuhnian here with lee filter, america's largest gutter and gutter protection company, lee filter as over 150 locations and has been installed on over 1 million homes within protect and homes now for over 20 years, our patented technology offers hello protection for your home and comes with a lifetime transferable warranty. the process is simple. give us a call to schedule your free gutter inspection. if you decide to move forward to project, you pointed nothing down at all a33 leaf filter or

sinwar ruined your life's. he hid in a dark tunnel, and was killed when he ran away in fear from our soldiers. i want to repeat again, in the clearest manner, hamas will no longer rule gaza. it's for you, gaza, to finally be free of his tyranny, and hamas fighters, those who -- telling you all, whoever is holding this out, whoever puts down their arms and allows them kidnapped to bring them out -- will live. whoever harms our kidnapped is a dead man. a closer time to the victory. the darkness has been retr retreating, and the light has been rising. sinwar and others are no longer, i tell you, the residents of the area, there is an opportunity to create a new future of peace and prosperity. together, we can propose -- and bring good blessing. no the world knows why we insisted on ending the war. this was the era where hamas and many of the other terrorists were hiding. and want to thank the idf, the security forces, and there are no better ones land them. will understand what happens to those -- we show the worl

how hard was the operation that took down sinwar to pull off? of the leading experts on urban warfare in the world joins me to explain next. me to explait >>> well, some hostage families are expressing hope that the killing of hamas leader yahya sinwar could lead to a deal to bring their loved ones home. others are worried his death may have the opposite effect. nbc's erin mclaughlin just spoke with ria who's father-in-law is being held in gaza. >> if sinwar is dead, we will not have 101 hostages back home. i think he was the holder to keep them alive, and after every big leader, there is a worse leader. >> joining me now is john spencer, west point chair of urban warfare studies at the modern war institute. thank you so much for joining us. i think you just heard the interview i did with the idf spokesperson, what he described was nothing short of stunning and dramatic, that apparently sin war, others who were with him opened fire on israeli soldiers. they responded including with a tank mortar shell. it hit the building, and then when they wen

what are israeli officials saying about sinwar's death today?reporter: a short while ago, jose, there was a briefing by the spokesperson for the israeli military for the international media, and this spokesperson, sort of, laid out a timeline and gave new details in terms of what exactly unfolded in that section of rafa on wednesday. it was wednesday late morning, according to this spokesperson, when there was a routine israeli military operation on patrol in the area. they noticed three militants. two of the militants appeared to be concealing themselves in blankets, shielding the third militant wearing a vest. now, according to the spokesperson, thought to be yahya sinwar. a ferocious battle ensued, according to the spokesperson. grenades were launched at the israeli military by -- from the direction of sinwar. at one point in this battle, which lasted for many hours, sinwar became separated from the other two, entered a building, and that is when, according to the spokesperson, they decided to send in a drone to see what was going on inside t

no, they chose yahya sinwar., but very cunning, he's been described as, and utterly uncompromising. that sent a message of defiance and resilience. but him out of the way, this is an opportunity to possibly try and complete the last 10% of the cease—fire deal, but that is not entirely up to hamas. that will leave netanyahu to get the agreement of his cabinet. that's been pretty difficult so far because the israelis don't want to give up control of the southern age of the gaza strip. they fear it willjust be used once again as a smuggling conduit to get weapons into gaza. it is definitely a juncture, and it will be really interesting to see which way it goes from will b

who is still alive is mohammed sinwar, who is yahya sinwar's brother. that according to sources would be among the worst-case scenarios because he has seemed to be as cut from the same cloth just as hard line and could be just as rigorous about not agreeing to a ceasefire, right now. but there could be others who who who are more agreeable, if you will. there's someone named callias, ohio who has taken the position as the top negotiator. he's on the political side. he's outside of gaza. he's in doha. the political echelon. outside of gaza, they've been seen as more amenable and more in favor of a ceasefire. so this is a major question and it could go both ways. so we need to see the whether israel sees this as a moment to end the war in gaza, but also whether hamas sees at the same way, and how does iran see it, right? especially as we know that israel had already readied its response to iran as we saw what's happening, obviously in lebanon with hezbollah now, you have this where they've killed sinwar. how is iran going to see this? well, no doubt, iran

it was clear the dna of sinwar was there. conclusion was that, number one, he was there with them and they actually probably served him as a human shield. number two, he did not have a chance to escape from the neighborhood. the assumption was that he was there. >> reporter: there you have it. as far as reaction, you could imagine that the families of the hostages really want some sort of resolution to this to get their loved ones out. the people in gaza who have suffered so much over the last year as well with death, destruction and hunger, would also like there to be a way out of this difficult period for them. >> hala, thank you very much. let me turn to john brennan. you know this area so well. as the former cia director, you studied hamas and as homeland national security deputy. hamas is looking for a successor. would to be his brother? would it be one of the -- it's hard to say less radicalized, but one of the hamas leaders living outside in qatar or someplace else, who would be easier to reach for negotiations? >> i t

ya hya yahya sinwar was ya hya sinwar was not yahya sinwar was not the first and won't be the last. military solution is not the one that would cure all of the ills in the middle east. there should be a political solution and this might help all parties to come up with something that would push them to agree on a ceasefire deal. a correspondent at bbc cat might verify talked me through the work they are doing. we've spent the last couple of hours of bbc verify looking through some of the pictures and footage and source material available just to recap on what we do know. the statement from the idf dropped just before 2pm uk time, there was a strike, we don't know where, the idf says three terrorists were killed and they are working to confirm if one of them is the hamas leader, this man, yahya sinwar. the idf has also said there is no sign of hostages in the area where the strike took place. at verify, in this situation, we look for all the material from gaza which can help us confirm what has happened and to build up more of a picture about what has transpired over the last few hou

that's the area where sinwar was nabbed yesterday. they thought he would be in a tunnel and take refuge and shielding from some hostages. maybe he has done that for the past year. yesterday that wasn't the case. the corridor strongly disputed between hamas and also israel. the israelis believe under the corridor is where the tunnels have been built that come in from sinai and egypt and feed hamas and its military weapons. let's go forward one more time. the town, the neighborhood where they caught him where these idf trainees were on a routine patrol as they described it. it is the big picture. six weeks now, okay? you have nasrallah taken out the end of september in beirut and now you have sinwar eliminated mid october in southern gaza. something else. what's next? john ratcliffe might be able to answer that, former director of national intelligence. what is next? what's the best next move for israel and the people in this region? >> well, bill, you highlighted the incredible success that israel has had in taking out the top leadersh

so how was sinwar found?n a northern area of rafah, close to gaza's border with egypt. we've established this by matching known images and videos of the area with the footage released by israel. the israeli military has released images of what it says are weapons found at the scene. also, this sequence of satellite images clearly shows how israeli forces have been operating in the area for weeks. at the end of september, buildings had been destroyed. this video, shared on social media last month, shows extensive damage. and you can see the building where sinwar would later be found. it appears to have been partially destroyed. there also seems to be a defensive wall constructed by the israelis, suggesting they had a strong presence in the area. but the killing of sinwar appears to have been as a result of a routine patrol, not a targeted assassination, which raises many questions. it was a surprise to everybody to see him just in an ordinary house, in a place called tal al—sultan area in rafah. this place is

they fell into sinwar�*s trap.h alive. very much appreciated. - a reminder — there's much more analysis on the killing of the leader of hamas — on our website — including this piece from our international editorjeremy bowen. just search bbc. com/news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a seven—year—old boy who died in a house explosion in newcastle — early on wednesday morning — has been named as archie york. the blast, which happened just before one am destroyed three houses in the area of benwell. police also confirmed a second person was found dead. an investigation into the cause of the explosion is under way. the wife of a conservative councillor has been jailed for thirty—one months — after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred on the day three girls were murdered in the southport attacks in july. lucy connolly from northampton called for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire in a post on the social media platform x. and the bbc ha

there's been plenty for sinwar, obviously your sense of it now, now that sinwar has been taken off the battlefield, potentially, it looks like that's the case. we don't know with absolute certainty just yet we're waiting on that. but is that a game changer yeah, it could be it could be a game changer. >> but first we got to figure out where the hostages, how many of them are still alive, and how can we get them back? and i think if we can get to that piece? i think then maybe it allows the israeli government, netanyahu to declare victory accomplished. the goal they wanted to, which was to decimate hamas, degrade their capabilities, remove them from power and then figure out what the next steps are. obviously for the people of gaza at the same time, it allows his url then to solely focus on degrading additional iranian proxies like hezbollah on the border of israel. but i think at this moment, where we need to focus on in the event that this looks true that sinwar is indeed dead. i think the next conversation needs to be, where are the hostages? how many of them? live? and to try to get

at one point in time toward the end of the battle, the two men separated from sinwar and sinwar, accordingthe spokesperson, ended up alone inside of a building. that's when they sent in the drone to see where he was. you can see in that footage, the israeli military has released and nbc has been unable to verify it, but you see who they say is yahya sinwar sitting alone, very muched, wounded, his arm shot or badly mangled in a chair. his face covered, and toward the end of the video, you see him throw a stick at the drone. shortly after that point, according to the spokesperson, the stilli military fired a tank into the building, killing him. at that point, they say it was nightfall, and they decided to leave for security reasons. it wasn't until thursday morning that the troops returned to that area to find the body, and that's when they noticed that the militant they killed looked like yahya sinwar. they took his dna, and dental records and confirmed the news by the afternoon, ana. >> so erin, what is next? what is israel's plan now? >> reporter: well, we heard from the israeli prime min

there are placards in tel aviv saying, "now end the sinwar," making a pun out of yahya sinwar�*s name, w—a—r. of course, let us not forget there is full—scale war going on between israel and hezbollah in southern lebanon, not evenjust southern lebanon, in beirut and the bekaa valley. that's not going to end either immediately because hezbollah is still firing rockets into israel, still the houthis in yemen also firing missiles at israel. much depends, as i say, on what happens with iran. remember israel has vowed to retaliate against iran for the october 1st ballistic missile attack when iran launched around 180 missiles at israel in response, it said, for the killing of hassan nasrallah, their big ally in beirut killed on september 27th. so, there is a lot of still moving pieces here in the jigsaw that have not stopped moving yet. so, i'm sorry to say that i don't think the middle east generally is a calmer place today than it was 48 hours ago. that was the bbc�*s frank gardner. tributes continue to pour in after the death of liam payne, the former member of the boy band one directio

who might replace yahya sinwar? and will it make hamas, eitherthrough yahya sinwar?through choice or circumstance, more or less open to the idea of some sort of hostage exchange? the hostages, unfortunately. _ hostage exchange? the hostages, unfortunately, i— hostage exchange? the hostages, unfortunately, i don't _ hostage exchange? the hostages, unfortunately, i don't think - unfortunately, i don't think hamas knows exact leeway they are, and i don't think some of the corpses will ever be found. hamas is over. hamas as we know it is over. politically. soa so a military organisation, rather than a political organisation, is that what you're saying?— organisation, is that what ou're sa in? ,, ., ., you're saying? less than that. also militarily. _ you're saying? less than that. also militarily. they _ you're saying? less than that. also militarily. they have - you're saying? less than that. also militarily. they have had| also militarily. they have had several huge blows. but hamas is not an army, it is a national liberation movement. that means that to turn gaza or a

who is the successor to yahya sinwar. a coalition together we could see a breakthrough, but if not, we are back where we started. moving away from the middle east and campaigning continues ahead of the us presidential election — with less than three weeks to go until the november 5 vote. early in—person voting is underway in north carolina, a critical swing state. voting kicks off there as recovery efforts are still underway in the aftermath of hurricane helene. another battleground state where voting has started is arizona. the state is located at the border with mexico, so immigration is one of the issues that's important to voters there. it's also one of three states currently leaning towards donald trump. my colleague caitriona perry has travelled there — and sent this report. yeah, you want to grab that one sign? for lucy and erin, this election is about life. ..ask me about an abortion pill reversal... three days a week they come to stand outside one of the southern arizona's only two abortion clinics, trying to per

the issue is much bigger than sinwar or anyone else.ve beenl assassinated before him, like ishmail haniyeh, i but someone else will always step in and the j struggle will continue. back in israel, a few people stop to celebrate at the forensics lab where sinwar was taken. tonight israelis are relieved and happy that the enemy has been killed but hamas still has its hostages, is still fighting and will get a new leader. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. i'm joined now by mara rudman — former white house deputy assistant for national security affairs and a former deputy in the us office of the special envoy for middle east peace. this killing, does it move israel_ this killing, does it move israel closer— this killing, does it move israel closer to _ this killing, does it move israel closer to the - this killing, does it move| israel closer to the stated aims _ israel closer to the stated aims of— israel closer to the stated aims of ending _ israel closer to the stated aims of ending hamas- israel closer to the stated | aims of ending ha

the president of the european commission says sinwar's death significantly weakens hamas. and us leaders surprised by news of the killing, but they're not making any predictions about the war moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in gaza iran's mission to the un posted this reaction on social media, calling sinwar a martyr, who will become a model for children and a source of inspiration said, sinwar's death will strengthen the spirit of resistance a group that represents families of israeli hostages still being held by hamas says it welcomes and user sinwar's death and the mother of one hostage who is still in gaza, had a message for the israeli prime minister and it's netanyahu, don't bury the hostages. go now with the mediators and to the public and present a new israeli initiative. time is running out for my amutan and the other hostages in the tunnels. you've got a victory photo. now, bring a deal if netanyahu will not use this momentum and present a new israeli initiative. now, even at the price of ending the war, it means that he's decided to abandon

this war is not dependent on sinwar nor — bbc. this war is not dependent on sinwar nor on _ bbc. on sinwar nor on any _ bbc. this war is not dependent on sinwar nor on any other— bbc. this war is not dependent on sinwar nor on any other leader - bbc. this war is not dependent on sinwar nor on any other leader or| sinwar nor on any other leader or official. it is a war of extermination against the palestinian people as we all know and understand. the issue is much bigger than sinwar or anyone else. many leaders have been assassinated before _ many leaders have been assassinated before him, like ishmail haniyeh but someone _ before him, like ishmail haniyeh but someone else will always step in and the struggle will continue. back someone else will always step in and the struggle will continue.— the struggle will continue. back in israel, a the struggle will continue. back in israel. a few— the struggle will continue. back in israel, a few people _ the struggle will continue. back in israel, a few people stop - the struggle will continue. back in israel, a few people stop to - israe

i am not here to defend yahya sinwar .re to say that we can't talk about who yahya sinwar was, or what hamas is, without talking about 76 years of colonialism , of apartheid, of mass killing, of mowing the lawn, of controlling the calories. yahya sinwar's death, the white house is saying this provides a moment to sort of pave it and make a settlement. and what does netanyahu do in response to those speeches from kamala harris and joe biden and john kirby? he doubles down. he goes full force, final solution on the people of northern gaza. yes, let's talk about yahya sinwar , but my god, we cannot watch more children being shredded and say that this is okay. that this is just a political issue. >> and i was actually going to get to that, because i was going to ask you, based on what you've outlined for us about him, i was going to say that despite the killing of yahya sinwar, israel's most wanted man, who is their excuse for basically doing everything as the mastermind of october 7th, we are still seeing attacks against pale

brother sinwar will be a possible. i've actually come hamas and what will be possible replacement for them on the military side in gaza, if if he's still alive secretary blinken here where i am right now to, to tel aviv this weekend to meet with israeli officials what are those conversations looked like on blinken then because, you know, it's a big question of the level of influence the u.s. has on what israel does here. obviously, there are a critical mass hang out with the election happening in two-and-a-half weeks in the us, but what kind of message is blinken able to bring here because they very clearly wanted to leverage this moment. it's just a question of whether or not they can yeah, that's going to be really difficult. i think kaitlan for them to do for secretary blinken to do clearly what the united states wants is an end to the fighting, especially in gaza, but also in lebanon. so the message from blinken is probably going to be, let's use this opportunity to declare victory as and say, you know, israel has

yahya sinwar, he is gone.an organization -- israelis killed another leader but hezbollah survived. does the prime minister look at this as an opportunity -- >> can i jump in -- >> how to deal with gaza in a much more realistic fashion. >> you said opportunity and that is what we heard in the u.s. we heard from president biden saying this was an opportunity to push forward cease-fire discussions. antony blinken will go to the middle east in a few days' time to try to push that forward. >> i am sure the president would love to leave as a legacy a cease-fire in gaza and the return of all the hostages. i am not arguing against the possibility that this is an opening. i just don't think the basic fundamentals of this conflict have changed, either on the part of hamas or on the part of benjamin netanyahu. remember, we have an active front in the north. the strategic shoe is yet to drop. the israelis will respond to the october 1 ballistic missile barrage. if the iranians respond to that, in a way that was hairier th

they drove sinwar out of the tunnels.s aboveground, in a small group, separated from the hostages. and this was kind of a lucky break that the idf caught, but they've been pursuing the mastermind of october 7th for more than a year, and today justice was delivered. >> you have a piece online for msnbc, and you argued that sinwar's death presents an opportunity for israel. how is -- what -- first of all, what is the opportunity? how does israel take advantage of it? and what i'm wondering is who does israel negotiate with now? obviously, they are not speaking directly to hamas, but who is the lead negotiator? >> the opportunity is to get the hostages back. the 101 hostages that remain, including, simone, seven americans. four we believe to be alive. four we believe have been murdered in captivity. excuse me, three in captivity. and we want their remains back. so seven americans remain being held by hamas. so it's an opportunity to get the hostages back, to end the fighting, to have a ceasefire along the lines of the agreem

it won't be sinwar. zit a very different situation. i don't want to predict too much what our efforts will look like over the course of the day because we are just hours what is a seismic event that changes the nature of this conflict. but we believe it is an opportunity to try and bring an end to this war and we're determined try to seize that opportunity. >> ok but -- but -- but -- are you going back to a place where -- where you were two or three -- two months ago? because i just the redoubling suggest that you're -- >> from a policy perspective what we want to achieve, we're in the same place. and we're going to continue to try to push forward the same thing we've done with our mediators. >> does that not include changes? >> here's the difference. over the past few weeks there have been no negotiations for an end to the war because sinwar has refused to negotiate. there's been no path to ending this war because sinwar has refused to talk about releasing the hoss or come to a cease-fire. we now see an opportunitying with being remov

there is speculation that he is sinwar's brother muhammad sinwar may take over the operation there's the potential for a vacuum of power, and then there's also the complicating factor after that from our understanding, many of these hostages aren't actually being held by hamas itself, but rather other organizations and satellite groups that is already complicated the process of helping recover the hostages. so i imagine it's not going to be a simple vote, as you said, by hamas or its affiliates to get closer to a negotiation, to get closer to a hostage release deal or a cease-fire correct that the hostages after hamas came into gaza and captured and killed families and took those hostages back, there were regular people that came in that were not wearing that were not trained by hamas that joined in the mili of terror, took men, women, and children brought them back to clans and gaza. >> however, hamas and we've said this from the very beginning, they are clearly the address of gaza. they are the terror empire in gaza, while there are other players, they know every single thing that'

in order to make the dna profile. >> sinwar's left index finger cut off of sinwar's body in gaza, delivered to dr. kugel's lab and confirmed to be a dna match. this is where sinwar was killed in the tal al-sultan area of rafah in southern gaza cnn has geo-located this as the building where sinwar met his end in an area mt of civilians and ravaged by war in recent months in this video from the scene, emaciated buildings, line of street torn-up by tanks as sinwar's body lies in the rubble that body has now been taken to an undisclosed military site in the military hands. i don't know exactly where is the place while the israeli government decides what to do with sinwar's body, his final moments are being seen very differently. >> while sums cia terrorists brought to his knees. >> here, feel sinwar sinwar died, while beaten persecuted, and on the run he didn't die as a commander. >> but as someone who only cared for himself, others see a resistance fighter making his last stand. >> this image will make him look like a hero for most palestinians most startups and most people who are against isr

sinwar. i mean, i mean, hamas don't even know that at this point. i mean, there are a number of potential candidates. but i mean, that's selection is not, taken, not taken place yet but i think it does that does talk to one of the big sort of issues that is being discussed around this killing of sinwar. this idea that with the killing of this one individual, the war ends or hamas disintegrates or something like that. that's certainly not been the organization that we've witnessed over the over the last several decades. they've experienced assassinations, high level ones before and they've been replaced and there's every reason to believe that, that sinwar will be replaced as well. whether that new leader will have the same hardline approach to the negotiations about the hostages as sinwar did, is something that is unknown at this stage. i hope he's obviously that that person won't yeah, it's a key question. >> matthew chance, jeremy diamond, great reporting both of you. thank you for that. we're going to have more on the story ahead with a former id

and thus yahya sinwar's passing if you will the killing of yahya sinwar i think goes down as one of the great winds of counterterrorism. >> so i can have often thought about what his strategy was. you just mention his ability to code 1200 people he took 250 people hostage and we will learn more of the details but it was thought he was surrounding himself with some of these hostages in order to protect himself. some reporting that hank went in and fired on his house and he said something to the effective basically he ran like a coward something along those lines. obviously we will learn more. what you think his goal was? did he know that kind of barbaric attack would than see an enormous counter attack from israel? during which we've seen a number of people have players around the world started shaking her finger at israel. was that his goal? to be so horrific that he would produce this very enormous counter attack by israel? >> i think that's excellent analysis absolutely true. point number 1 of his desire was to do everything he could to damage the status of israel and think how coward

one of them clearly was sinwar in the end. and then they fired at tank shell in the building where he was it's injured. and the idea was that that was how he was killed. but i spoke with this pathologist who actually performed the autopsy last night on the body of yahya sinwar. and he tells me that it was a gunshot wound to the head that actually killed him. listen wound in the head here's a bullet in your head and there's a severe traumatic brain injury yes injury from other sources like a missile injury in his right forearm fallen masonry on his left leg, or tie, more and many sharpeners that shrapnel entered his body, but only in the chest. they caused the severe damage but the cause of death is the gunshot wound in the head certain there and he actually reached that conclusion before hearing them israeli military's account about what actually happened, he reached this conclusion just by looking at the body, by analyzing it, doing it like you would do for any other body. what he also did is before the body even arrive there

great to have you picked is this killing of sinwar come to get things?ook at it 1 side might hamas to start trying to make a deal or it could build up revenge and taking it out on innocent hostages. smack first we don't know who the israelis might be negotiating with. we don't know where the leadership is going to ascend and what layer. so you have to have at least 2 parties and other 1 hand we've got prime minister netanyahu who is not accessed any interest in making a deal short of hamas surrendering and leaving the country or leaving gaza. so while 1 would hope would be if he still in the path, eticket this particular point the israelis feel hamas is still in existence has will is in existence and they intend to do as much possible in the shortest period of time. in addition to that i think all roads lead to tehran. i think iran is in a position to call some of the shots at least 2 hamas and hezbollah same back away make a deal because they are now at risk as well because the israelis are going to respond. they are going to hit iran in the real issue

as long as yahya sinwar was that military terror leader of hamas in the gaza strip. there was no way to go he was not willing in any way to negotiate over the 101. now there is that opportunity so what we had heard from many reports from from the qatari government was that hamas had broadly agreed to some terms for a cease-fire and a release of hostages are you are you saying that from what you can tell that was not true and sinwar was the obstacle i think that president biden himself has said that also hamas is not just yahya sinwar. >> so let's be clear. he's dead and there will be somebody else in his stead, but he most definitely lead a very hard line idea, both in planning and executing the horrific attack. as you mentioned before. but from then on, having very hard stance when it came to the negotiation, hamas that said in qatar, hamas that sit outside have slightly different opinions. this isn't about hamas suddenly recognizing the state of israel, but it's about a willingness to arrive at some kind of resolution that could work for both sides. >> and what is

someone like yahya sinwar has been killed. clearly, this is a victory for israel, but i think at the same time, we have to be cautious about what is likely to happen in the coming days and weeks and months as a result of this killing. >> nbc's keir simmons, thank you very much for that update. jonathan lemire. >>> joining us now on this conversation, editor in chief of the jewish news outlet, the ford, and former "new york times" bureau chief, jodi, thank you so much for being here this morning. simply, sinwar, the mastermind of october 7th, finally brought to justice. what does this moment mean for israel and the path forward? >> i mean, it really depends on what prime minister netanyahu decides to do. it is clear that sinwar was an obstacle to a deer by saying hamas needed to stay in power, but netanyahu has been an obstacle to a deal by saying the idf needed to stay in gaza. it is now time for the prime minister to declare victory. they said their goals were to dismantle or destroy hamas. they have dismantled and destroyed

while some cia terrorists brought to his knees sinwar, sinwar died while beaten, persecuted at the run. he didn't die as a commander. but as someone who only cared for himself others see a resistance fighter making his last stand. >> this image will, will make him look like a hero for most palestinians and most arabs and most people who are against israeli occupation and against the oppression that palestinians are subjected to in the end, he laid dead surrounded by the rubble of a war. >> he helped unleash and there are still questions about what the israeli government will do with sinwar's body. some suggesting that the body may be used as a bargaining chip in future negotiations for the time being, these really military is now dropping new leaflets on gaza as are urging anyone who is holding hostages in the gaza strip to release them promising them immunity. but of course, the fighting is still raging on and we have yet to see any movement towards an actual deal to free those hostages jeremy diamond, cnn, tel aviv straight ahead, back in this country, republicans are now appealing a

some say, it won't change much sinwar assassinating sinwar will not end the war in israel continues its approach of assassinations and killing since we came into this world, it has been assassinating the palestinian leadership since this day, and it continues its to gender of assassination, destruction, and displacement and assassinating sinwar will not end the war while it's estimated that at least 1,700 people have been killed in lebanon since israel stepped up, its military operations against hezbollah. with more than 9,000 others wounded. >> joining me now from paris a smile. >> director of the carnegie middle east center. thank you so much for joining us, we are hearing from hezbollah. they have a new and escalating phase, but they've been so debilitated, hadn't made by the israeli operation. i'm wondering what resources and leadership they've got in place to be able to do that good morning, max. >> thank you for having me. they seem to still be operating. i think they have a level of decentralization on the battlefield. so they've continued to carry out operations from what we can

who is the successor to yahya sinwar. l conflict is going? who is the | successor to yahya sinwar.ee a breakthrough but if not we see we will be back where we started. . ~ we will be back where we started. ., ,, ., , started. frank lowenstein, thank you _ started. frank lowenstein, thank you very much. - there's much more analyis on the killing of the leader of hamas — on our website — including this piece from our international editorjeremy bowen. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. a seven—year—old boy who died in a house explosion in newcastle — early on wednesday morning — has been named as archie york. the blast, which happened just before 1am destroyed three houses in the area of benwell. police also confirmed a second person was found dead. an investigation into the cause of the explosion is under way. the wife of a conservative councillor has been jailed for 31 months after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred on the day three girls were murdered in the southport attacks in july. lucy connolly fr

he said "we will hunt down sinwar."ned in the mind of the israeli defense minister that he would be killed. it was a matter of when, not if. as we look forward, the big question now is what does this mean for the israeli hostages who are still being held inside of gaza? they were taken on october 7th. 101 of them are still in gaza. -- the hostages families form commends the security forces. the men and women and children -- the elderly women and children being held in by gaza. the strategic moment to find a way to get the remaining hostages out of gaza. they understand time is running out, they know hamas is -- is operating on the ground across the strip. the war in the north continues. the potential israeli operation against iran on the horizon. a lot of moving parts here. the latest information that we have, israeli officials are working to confirm that they did indeed kill the leader of hamas. we expect that to confirmation at any moment. back to you. >> keep us updated. look, i want to do a few things. first, our la

jeremy, you have some new details on how sinwar was killed. what can you tell us? >> yeah, that's right, brianna. well, up until now, the working assumption has been that yahya sinwar was likely killed by tank fire. that is what the israeli military has suggested as they said, that this exchange of gunfire that happened initially with sinwar and two other palestinian militants, ultimately ended with israeli tank firing a shell into the building where he was where he was wounded but now i've actually spoken today with the man who conducted the autopsy on yahya sinwar's body, dr. kugler, who is the chief pathologist as israel's national center of forensic medicine. and he tells me me that he is confident that it was a gunshot wound to the head that killed sinwar the cause of this is gunshot wound in the head. >> here's a bullet in his head and there's a severe traumatic brain injury injury from other sources, like a missile oil injury in his right forearm fallen masonry on his left leg, or tie, more and many sharpeners that shrapnel entered his body, but only in the

what is the likelihood that sinwar was taken out?well, ana, i think that sinwar has been one of the israeli targets for the past year. he's been the priority target, because he's not just the architect of october 7th massacre, but also the military and political leader of hamas. if they were able to eliminate him, again, it's not confirmed, but he may have been hiding, i don't want to say in plain sight, but above ground, as a way to mask his actual location. the israelis, who were going through those tunnels, saw that the command structure was there. but it would be a significant blow to hamas. it would further decapitate the organization that has already host a number of senior leaders. it's not going to lead to the demise of the hamas militancy and terrorist organization, but it certainly will do a lot to degrade its capabilities as it will be searching for a successor to sinwar if the israelis have killed him. >> if it is confirmed, we want to be very careful as we proceed here. all we're able to report here is that they're looki