‘Will not rest until we bring home all hostages’: IDF after killing Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar

TEL AVIV: Israel will continue its offensive against Hamas after killing their chief Yahya Sinwar as Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Friday said that they will not rest until they “bring home all the hostages by any means”.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari informed that 101 hostages are still in Hamas captivity. “Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organisation who was responsible for the October 7 massacre, is dead… Our work is not done. We will not rest until we bring home all our hostages by any means. We will continue to operate until we complete all our missions in defence of the people of Israel”, he said.

Hagari said that Sinwar was “responsible” for the most brutal attack against Israel. “Sinwar was responsible for the most brutal attack against Israel in our history when terrorists from Gaza invaded Israel, massacred Israelis in their homes, raped our women, burned entire families alive, and took over 250 men, women, children and babies hostage into Gaza. 101 hostages still remain in captivity in brutal conditions. For the past year, Sinwar tried to escape justice. He failed. We said we would find him and bring him to justice and we did it. It was Yaya Sinwar who decided to wage war with Israel”, Hagari said.

“Since the beginning of this war that Sinwar started on October 7 — we’ve said: Our war is with Hamas, not the people of Gaza. We mean it.”

IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari on the elimination of Yahya Sinwar and our operational goals in Gaza: pic.twitter.com/OgkgUc5Bhi

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 17, 2024

Reiterating that Israel offensive is not against people of Gaza, Hagari said that Israel is working to increase amount of humanitarian aid. “We’ve said our war with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza, and we mean it. We are working to increase the amount of humanitarian aid, including food, water and medicine that goes into Gaza”, Hagari said.

On Thursday, IDF eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7 attacks last year. The conflict in Gaza reignited after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. About 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,200 people, including citizens of more than 30 countries, and also took 250 people as hostages.

Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas, vowing to eliminate the entire terror group while making efforts to minimize civilian casualties. (ANI)