Sen. Tim Kaine Calls IDF’s “elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar” a “monumental win for the Israeli and Palestinian people and the long-term stability of the region”

See below for reactions to the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – pure evil, bringing disaster/horror upon innocent Israelis AND upon his own people – who he couldn’t have cared less about, simply used for his own purposes. Anyway, as Sen. Tim Kaine correctly argues below, now it’s time for a ceasefire, hostage release, reconstruction, etc.

KAINE STATEMENT ON ELIMINATION OF HAMAS LEADER YAHYA SINWAR

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, released the following statement regarding the Israeli Defense Forces’ elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar:

“The elimination of Yahya Sinwar, a long-time Hamas leader and one of the chief architects of the October 7 attack, is a monumental win for the Israeli and Palestinian people and the long-term stability of the region. It is in the best interest of Israeli and American national security that this critical development serve as a natural ending point for this conflict. The time is now for Israel and Hamas to finally accept a deal to establish a ceasefire and release the remaining hostages.”

Statement from President Joe Biden on the Death of Yahya Sinwar

Early this morning, Israeli authorities informed my national security team that a mission they conducted in Gaza likely killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.  DNA tests have now confirmed that Sinwar is dead.  This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.

As the leader of the terrorist group Hamas, Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and citizens from over 30 countries.  He was the mastermind of the October 7th massacres, rapes, and kidnappings.  It was on his orders that Hamas terrorists invaded Israel to intentionally – and with unspeakable savagery – kill and massacre civilians, a Holocaust survivor, children in front of their parents, and parents in front of their children.

Over 1,200 people were killed on that day, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, including 46 Americans.  More than 250 were taken hostage, with 101 still missing. That number includes seven Americans, four of whom are believed to still be alive and held by Hamas terrorists.  Sinwar is the man most responsible for this, and for so much of what followed.

Shortly after the October 7 massacres, I directed Special Operations personnel and our intelligence professionals to work side-by-side with their Israeli counterparts to help locate and track Sinwar and other Hamas leaders hiding in Gaza.

With our intelligence help, the IDF relentlessly pursued Hamas’s leaders, flushing them out of their hiding places and forcing them onto the run.  There has rarely been a military campaign like this, with Hamas leaders living and moving through hundreds of miles of tunnels, organized in multiple stories underground, determined to protect themselves with no care for the civilians suffering above ground.  Today, however, proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes.

To my Israeli friends, this is no doubt a day of relief and reminiscence, similar to the scenes witnessed throughout the United States after President Obama ordered the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden in 2011.

Israel has had every right to eliminate the leadership and military structure of Hamas. Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another October 7.

I will be speaking soon with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them, to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all, which has caused so much devastation to innocent people.

There is now the opportunity for a “day after” in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.  Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us.

here’s Kamala Harris’s full statement on the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar pic.twitter.com/dlijkaM6vX

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 17, 2024

STATEMENT OF INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN WARNER

~ On the death of Yahya Sinwar ~

WASHINGTON – Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Mark R. Warner (D-VA) issued a statement on the death of Hamas terrorist Yahya Sinwar:

“Earlier today I spoke with Director Burns, who confirmed that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas and one of the masterminds of the October 7 terrorist attack, has been killed in Gaza. As a terrorist leader, Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents, including Americans, Israelis and Palestinians. While justice has been served to Sinwar, let us not forget that the terrorist network he headed still holds dozens of people hostage in Gaza, and we must continue to press for their safe return.”