Yahya Sinwar death: European leaders react

European leaders grimly welcomed the news that the Israel Defense Forces had killed Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader and architect of the Oct. 7 attacks, and expressed hope it could lead to a cease-fire in Gaza.

“His death is certainly significantly weakening Hamas,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday at a press conference after the European Council, a regular gathering of the leaders of the EU’s 27 member countries. The news of Sinwar’s death in an IDF strike broke during the summit.

European Council President Charles Michel said Sinwar was “responsible for the suffering of people in Gaza because of his action” as one of the main planners of last year’s attack by Hamas on Israel.

Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in cross-border raids on Oct. 7, 2023, and took around 250 hostages back to Gaza. The unprecedented attack prompted Israel to launch an offensive that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Both von der Leyen and Michel also called on Thursday for a cease-fire in Gaza, where the U.N. estimates nearly 2 million people are experiencing “extremely critical” levels of hunger as a result of Israel’s military offensive.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, said Sinwar’s death was a turning point and raised the prospect that it could provide Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an off-ramp as the crisis in the Middle East spirals.

“We should seize this opportunity to free hostages and to end the war,” Macron told reporters after the summit. “We need to end the military operations … and accept the cease-fire in Gaza, and open a credible political perspective for Israelis and Palestinians.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also called for the release of the Israeli hostages, dozens of whom are still being held by Hamas.

“Yahya Sinwar was a brutal murderer and terrorist who was bent on eradicating Israel and its people. As mastermind behind the October 7 terror attacks, he brought death to thousands of people and immeasurable suffering across an entire region,” Baerbock wrote in a two-part post on X from the German Foreign Office account. “Hamas must now immediately release all hostages and lay down its weapons; the suffering of the people in Gaza must finally end.”

But Netanyahu, in his speech announcing Sinwar’s death, indicated that Israel’s war in Gaza was not yet over and vowed to bring all the hostages home.

 “Today evil has suffered a heavy blow, but the task before us is not yet complete,” Netanyahu said.

Eddy Wax and Clea Caulcutt contributed reporting.