US President Joe Biden on Thursday described Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a “good day” for the world and said it also removed a key obstacle to the Gaza ceasefire and hostage agreement.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate in November’s US election, said Israel’s killing of the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attacks was “a chance to finally end the war in Gaza.”
The comments reflect growing calls for a ceasefire in Washington, even as it supports key ally Israel amid tensions between Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s conduct in the conflict sparked by Hamas attacks.
“This is a great day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world,” Biden, who was traveling to Germany on Air Force One after the news, said in a written statement.
Biden said he would speak to Netanyahu soon to “congratulate” him, as well as “discuss a path forward” to securing the release of the hostages and “ending this war once and for all.”
Biden said, “There is now an opportunity for a ‘day after tomorrow’ without Hamas in Gaza and a political solution that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
“Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Harris has signaled she would take a tough stance toward Israel if elected president and has called for a stop to Palestinian deaths, even as she supports Israel’s right to defend itself.
“This moment gives us the opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza,” he told reporters after a campaign event in Milwaukee.
“And it must end with Israel secure, hostages released, suffering in Gaza ended and the Palestinian people realizing their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” he said.
The Vice President also praised U.S. special operations and intelligence personnel who “worked closely with their Israeli counterparts to locate and track Sinwar and other Hamas leaders.”
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, however, stressed that US personnel were not involved in the specific operation that killed Sinwar.
“This operation was an IDF operation,” Sullivan told reporters traveling with Biden on Air Force One.
Tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have risen in recent months as the Israeli leader appeared to ignore multiple US calls to ease tensions in the Middle East.
The United States warned Israel on Tuesday that it could withhold some of its billions of dollars of military aid if it does not improve aid deliveries to the war-torn Gaza Strip within 30 days.
Washington also said it was opposed to the way Israel was carrying out massive airstrikes on Beirut that target Hezbollah in Lebanon – which, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.
Meanwhile, Israel has said that it will retaliate against Iran after its recent ballistic missile attack. Biden has called on it not to attack Iranian nuclear or oil facilities.
But Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday called on Biden to “work together with Israel now to implement the maximum pressure campaign against the head of the snake: Iran.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)