Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, waves his hand to the crowd during the celebration of International Quds Day in Gaza City. Iran's leader delivered a historic address to the Palestinian people of Gaza, telling them to stick up to the fighting against Israel in a speech that reflected his country's support for the territory's ruling Hamas militant group. Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, is a commemorative day in support of the Palestinian people held annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan by an initiative started by the late founder of the Islamic Republic in Iran. (Photo by Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
THE STRUGGLE ISRAEL
The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar marks a major symbolic victory for Israel, and creates an opportunity for the country to change its approach to the war in Gaza. But it hardly signals the end of the regional conflict Sinwar helped ignite.
- Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the brutal October 7 attack, was killed during a chance encounter with Israeli troops in the southern part of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Israel announced. Sinwar’s death caps an intense, year-long manhunt by Israeli forces that contributed to the decimation of Gaza. In the end, he was found by a group of trainee squad commanders who encountered him unexpectedly while on a routine patrol, according to the New York Times. He was later identified by his DNA and dental records.
- Sinwar led both Hamas’s military and political wings after Israel assassinated the group’s previous top political official, and had been accused by the United States of seeking to widen the war in the Middle East. He’s been a key decision-maker for Hamas since the start of the conflict, and in recent rounds of fruitless ceasefire negotiations. With Sinwar gone, Israelis have effectively forced a change-up in their adversary’s negotiating team.
- Democrats and Republicans hailed Sinwar’s departure from the world stage as a major step forward for peace. But experts and officials aren’t so certain. “Hamas is not going to disappear as an organization, no more than Hezbollah” did after Israel killed its leader last month, former Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller told What A Day. One important question mark is who replaces Sinwar at the negotiating table. If it’s Mohammed Sinwar, his similarly hardline brother, “negotiations are totally screwed,” an American official told CNN.
It’s also less than clear that the current Israeli government is set on negotiating a ceasefire deal, no matter who takes Sinwar’s place.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing corruption charges, has been repeatedly accused of prolonging the war for his own political gain. Another Israeli leader with the strategy might actually conclude this is a moment to begin seriously talking about de-escalating the war,” Miller said. “He’ll talk about ‘total victory,’ the need to continue to achieve total to de-radicalize Gaza, crush the remaining Hamas forces that exist.”
- But Netanyahu now has an off-ramp — and faces a crucial decision whether to take it, according to Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the liberal pro-Israel advocacy group J Street. Escalating tensions with Iran and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon probably won’t cool down anytime soon. Sinwar’s death represents a prime opportunity for Israel to change direction in Gaza, if it wants to, he said. “A rational and sane government of Israel would take this as the moment to pivot and bring this thing to an end,” Ben-Ami told What A Day.
- One looming concern: What will happen to the hostages remaining in Gaza? The families of hostages pressed Netanyahu’s government to use the moment to quickly secure a deal to release their loved ones. Vice President Kamala Harris called for an end to the war today. Now, the U.S. needs to bring together other countries to pressure Netanyahu to make a deal, said Liz Naftali, the great aunt of a hostage who was released last year. “This is a country that, until the hostages come back, cannot start to heal and move forward,” she told What A Day in a phone call from Israel.
The U.S. doesn’t know what Sinwar’s death means yet for the future of the war in Gaza, an American official told CNN. A ceasefire or hostage deal could happen soon — or “there could still be a long path ahead,” the official said.
MITCH, PLEASE
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), aka the ultimate DC swamp monster, has been a thorn in Democrats’ side ever since he was elected to the Senate in 1984 (hard to believe it wasn’t 1884, but apparently it just feels that way). Once in a while, however, in spite of himself, ol’ McConnell delivers a gem.
In this case, we just learned that McConnell privately called Donald Trump “stupid” and “despicable” after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, according to an excerpt from his upcoming biography. The beef between the GOP kingpins has been well-documented. But these newly revealed comments are by far his harshest characterization of the former president yet.
The story gets better, though. Because, when asked about those past comments, the 82-year-old lawmaker replied: “Whatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what JD Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him, but we are all on the same team now.” Yes, Trump’s own running mate called him “America’s Hitler.” And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called him “a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”
McConnell reminded us that Trump’s highest-profile backers know exactly who he is — and we know that for certain, because they’ve said so. Today, McConnell effectively called Vance and Graham hypocrites. But McConnell is also still endorsing Trump this year. So, he’s right! They are “all on the same team now.”
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Mamentia — madness and dementia at the same time.”
— James Carville’s diagnosis for Donald Trump's deranged behavior.
NEWS NEWS NEWS
A Georgia judge today blocked the rule that would’ve required each county to hand-count each ballot after the election. And thank God, or we’d probably still be waiting on them to find out who won the election next March. The law had been passed last month by the pro-Trump State Election Board, which has been accused of trying to sow chaos before the election and delay results. But they would never do something like that, would they?
Trump blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the war in Ukraine, even though Russia invaded the country in February 2022. “He should never have let that war start. That war is a loser,” the former president said on a podcast today, in one of his signature “makes absolutely no fucking sense” arguments.
Speaking of losers, Trump’s attorneys asked the judge handling his election interference case to postpone the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s new evidence dump until November 14… well after the election. Do we seriously need more evidence proving that Trump tried to steal the election? Smith’s last dump was pretty damning!
There are at least 30 election deniers and “fake electors” now serving as Trump’s official electors in swing-states this year, a CNN survey found. They comprise more than a third of electors in states where Trump tried to overturn election results in 2020. Great! Perfect!
The Secret Service had a “troubling lack of critical thinking” before and after the first assassination attempt against Trump at a campaign rally over the summer, according to a report from an independent panel. Being called stupid in an official, independent report… man, that’s a tough break.
Nearly half of young people say they’d have a more negative view of someone they go on a date with if the person is a Trump supporter, according to a new poll. I can’t believe kids these days don’t want to date someone who supports a racist, misogynistic, sex predator convicted of felonies!
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