Israel and its Iran-aligned foes vow more war after Hamas leader's death

By James Mackenzie, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Samia Nakhoul

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Pledges from Israel and its enemies Hamas and Hezbollah to keep fighting in Gaza and Lebanon dashed hopes on Friday that the death of Palestinian militant leader Yahya Sinwar might hasten an end to more than a year of escalating war in the Middle East.

Israel's arch-foe and the militants' main backer Iran also said Sinwar's death would only fuel "the spirit of resistance".

Hamas leader Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war, was killed by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday.

Video showed him tossing a stick at a drone as he sat dying.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his killing a milestone but vowed to keep up the war, which in recent weeks expanded from fighting Hamas in Gaza into an invasion and pursuit of Hezbollah of Lebanon.

"The war, my dear ones, is not yet over," Netanyahu told Israelis late on Thursday, saying fighting would continue until hostages held by Hamas are released.

"We have before us a great opportunity to stop the axis of evil," he added, referring to Iran and its militant allies across the region, also in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Hamas said hostages would only be released with a halt of hostilities in Gaza, an Israeli withdrawal and the release of its prisoners.

"The martyrdom of our brother, the leader Yahya Sinwar ... will only increase the strength and resolve of Hamas and our resistance," it said, confirming his death.

That rhetoric from the warring parties contrasted with Western leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who said Sinwar's death offered a chance for negotiations. Sinwar had been refusing talks, Washington said.

Israel's government has rejected several attempts by the United States, its main ally, at brokering ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon.

One senior diplomat working in Lebanon told Reuters that hopes Sinwar's death would end the war appeared misplaced.

"We had hoped, really throughout this, that getting rid of Sinwar would be the turning point where the wars would end ... where everyone would be ready to put their weapons down. It appears we were once again mistaken," the diplomat said.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said he feared the war was only going to get worse.

"Unfortunately, we are on the verge of a comprehensive regional war," he told state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV channel. "There are parties keen on escalation."

He said international mediators - which included Egypt - had been close to reaching a ceasefire in Gaza but Israel lacked the political will.

Families of Israeli hostages said that while the killing of Sinwar was an achievement, it would not be complete while captives were still in Gaza.

The conflict has caused direct Iranian-Israeli confrontations, including missile attacks on Israel in April and on Oct. 1.

Netanyahu has vowed to respond to the October attack, though Washington has pressed it not to strike Iranian energy facilities or nuclear sites.

Biden, on a visit to Berlin on Friday, said there was a possibility of working towards a ceasefire in Lebanon but it would be harder in Gaza. He also told reporters he had an understanding of how and when Israel would respond to the missile attacks by Iran. He declined to elaborate.

TRACKED AND KILLED

Sinwar, Hamas' overall leader following the assassination of political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, was believed to have been hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza.

He was killed during a gun battle on Wednesday by Israeli troops initially unaware they had caught their number one enemy, Israeli officials said.

The military released drone video of what it said was Sinwar, sitting on an armchair and covered in dust inside a destroyed building. He was tracked by the drone as he lay dying, the video showed, desperately throwing a stick.

The Oct. 7, 2023 attacks he masterminded in Israel killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities. Israel has subsequently killed more than 42,000 people, according to Palestinian officials. Its offensive has made most of Gaza's 2.3 million people homeless, maimed tens of thousands, caused widespread hunger and destroyed hospitals and schools.

Hezbollah, which began firing rockets at Israel in support of its Hamas ally on Oct. 8, is the target of Israel's intensifying assault on Lebanon, which has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced 1.2 million.

Israel has now killed several of Hamas' top leaders and in a matter of weeks decapitated the Hezbollah leadership, mainly through air strikes.

The killings have dealt a blow to what anti-Israeli forces call the Axis of Resistance: a group of proxy militant groups that Iran has spent decades supporting across the region.

Experts said the Palestinian militant group was likely to replace Sinwar with a new political leader based outside Gaza while his brother Mohammad Sinwar was expected to assume a bigger role directing the war against Israel in the territory.

Iran showed no sign Sinwar's killing would shift its support.

"The spirit of resistance will be strengthened," its mission to the United Nations said.

Hezbollah was also defiant, announcing "the transition to a new and escalating phase in the confrontation with Israel".

The Israeli military said on Friday it had also killed Muhammad Hassin Ramal, Hezbollah’s commander of the Tayibe area in southern Lebanon.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, visiting Beirut, called for the U.N. peacekeeping mission to Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, to be strengthened. Italy contributes troops to the force.

"I repeat that I consider targeting UNIFIL is unacceptable," Meloni told a joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, referring to recent Israeli attacks involving the mission's troops.

She said she planned to hold talks with Netanyahu after her visit to Lebanon and Jordan.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Timour Azhar in Beirut; Maayan Lubel and James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Lena Masri, Elwely Elwelly in Dubai; Costas Pitas in Washingtonand Michelle Nichols in New York; Writing by John Davison and Angus MacSwan; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Christina Fincher)