Israel’s killing of Hamas’s leader should mean an end to this war. It probably won’t

‘Sinwar’s killing should have created new momentum for a ceasefire agreement that would lead to a regional de-escalation and the release of dozens of hostages still held by Hamas.’ Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, arrived in Israel on Tuesday to ostensibly plead with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to accept a ceasefire in Gaza and end a widening regional war. Blinken and other US officials have made this appeal many times in recent months, only to be ignored by the Israeli premier, who has instead set about destroying swaths of Lebanon. On this visit, Blinken urged Netanyahu to use the recent killing of Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza as an opening to declare victory and wind down Israel’s war.

Sinwar’s killing, in a surprise encounter with Israeli troops last week, should have created new momentum for a ceasefire agreement that would lead to a regional de-escalation and the release of dozens of hostages still being held by Hamas after its 7 October attack on Israel. But Joe Biden has already squandered this opportunity by sending Blinken to deliver a weak lecture to Netanyahu, and refusing to pressure Israel to accept a truce.