President Biden on Thursday said he is hopeful the Israel–Hamas war will end “soon,” now that Israel has killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.
“Now is the time to move on. Move on, move toward to a cease-fire in Gaza, make sure that we move in a direction that we’re going to be in a position to make things better for the whole world,” Biden told reporters in Berlin, adding that he is sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel for talks.
“It’s time for this war to end and bring these hostages home,” Biden said. “So that’s what we’re ready to do. And I’m sending Tony Blinken to Israel. . . . I talked with Bibi about that. We’re going to work out what, what is the day after now. How do we secure Gaza and move on.”
Biden spoke by phone with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu while traveling aboard Air Force One to Germany. Biden offered his congratulations after Israel killed Sinwar, who was the mastermind behind Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on the Jewish state that left 1,200 people dead and sparked the war in Gaza.
The two leaders spoke about working toward the release of 101 hostages still held by Hamas “and to bring the war to a close with Israel’s security assured and Hamas never again able to control Gaza,” according to a readout of the call from the White House.
“They agreed to remain in close contact over the coming days both directly and through their national security teams,” the White House said.
However, Netanyahu said earlier on Thursday that the war “is not over yet.”
“Citizens of Israel, we are in the resurrection war. Big challenges are still ahead. We are required for long-spiritedness, for the unity of the ranks, for courage, for a firm stand. Together we will fight, and with God’s help — together we will win,” he said.
He said Sinwar’s killing gives Israel a “great opportunity” to stop the Iranian-led “axis of evil” in the Middle East and to free the remaining hostages in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead, according to Israeli estimates from September.
“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza,” Netanyahu said in a four-minute-long video, as reported by the Times of Israel. “This is the beginning of the day after Hamas, and this is an opportunity for you, the residents of Gaza, to finally break free from its tyranny.”
Sinwar was one of three terrorists killed by Israeli soldiers in Rafah on Wednesday.
Netanyahu on Thursday offered a warning to Hamas terrorists, saying that all of the terrorist group’s leaders would be killed like Sinwar was and that a “reckoning” will come for any Hamas terrorists who harm the remaining hostages.