JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s determination to disregard dire warnings from President Biden and Vice President Harris to not conquer the final main stronghold of Hamas terrorists in Rafah proved to be appropriate, based on army and Center East specialists.
Israel Protection Forces (IDF) and the nation’s Shin Wager intelligence company introduced Wednesday that “soldiers from the Southern Command eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip.”
Biden and Harris congratulated Israel over the loss of life of the Hamas terror chief, however, earlier this 12 months, each warned Israel about going into Rafah, the place Sinwar met his finish.
IDF forces working in Rafah, a metropolis within the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesman’s Workplace)
Sinwar oversaw the bloodbath of practically 1,200 individuals Oct. 7, 2023, together with over 40 Americans.
In March, Harris declined to rule out “consequences” for Israel if it moved ahead with an invasion of Rafah in Gaza.
“We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” Harris advised ABC Information on the time.”Let me tell you something. I have studied the maps. There’s nowhere for those folks to go.”
Additionally in March, Biden Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan echoed Harris’ warning.
“Our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else,” Sullivan famous throughout a White Home Press briefing. “But a major ground operation there would be a mistake. It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally.”
President Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu within the Oval Workplace on the White Home July 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures)
In Might, Biden went so far as threatening Israel, saying he wouldn’t furnish the Jewish state with weapons if it entered Rafah. Biden advised CNN “if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem.”
Amit Segal, chief political analyst of Israel’s Channel 12, advised Fox Information Digital, “The elimination of Sinwar proves that the continuation of the war was not a whim, the entry into Rafah was not a vendetta and the refusal to surrender to Hamas to resolve the northern front was not a rash decision.
“There’s a technique, and it’s to make sure, entrance by entrance, that the whole Center East sees what occurs to those that assault Israel.”
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ISSUES WARNING TO NETANYAHU AS ISRAEL HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING ON GAZA AID
Yahya Sinwar, center, the late leader of Hamas, during a ceremony for members killed by Israeli air strikes at Yarmouk Stadium May 24, 2021, in Gaza City, Gaza. (Laurent Van der Stockt/Getty Images)
New information emerged about the elimination of Sinwar Friday. An IDF spokesman said “Sinwar’s major objective was to wipe Israel off the map. This operation achievement is one fragment out of a one-year endeavor” in Gaza.
He said Sinwar was in the “similar tunnel the place six hostages have been executed” in August.
One of many six hostages murdered was Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
“We perceive Sinwar was in that space; just a few hundred meters from that tunnel is the place he was eradicated,” the IDF spokesman noted, adding there are “indications of senior Hamas leaders in Rafah space.”
There are 14,000 occurrences of Hamas booby-trapped buildings in the Rafah area, the IDF spokesman added.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, points at a map of the Gaza Strip during a press conference at the Government Press Office in Jerusalem Sept. 4, 2024. (Abir Sultan/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“Had Prime Minister Netanyahu listened to Biden and Harris and never entered Rafah, we could have by no means reached Sinwar. The individuals of America and Israel overwhelmingly supported our entry into Rafah and need to see Hamas dedicated to the annals of historical past. Now it is time to end Hamas and produce dwelling the hostages,” Israeli Lt. Col (res) Yoni Chetboun, former deputy speaker of the Knesset and a decorated special forces operator, told Fox News Digital.
ELIMINATION OF SINWAR IS ‘SIGNIFICANT AND PRESENTS OPPORTUNITY FOR CEASE-FIRE, STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS
Harris’ misjudgment about the ground war in Gaza sparked some intense criticism and ridicule on social media from foreign policy experts. American-Israeli Middle East expert Caroline Glick, wrote on X, “Sinwar was killed in Rafah — a mile from the Egyptian border. Kamala threatened Israel with sanctions if we went in. Oh, and she or he studied the maps.”
The campaign by the U.S. government and the European Union to rope in Israel’s push to eradicate the Iranian regime-backed terrorist movements, Hamas and Hezbollah, has so far not seemed to impact Netanyahu’s war plans.
Josep Borrell, the left-wing European Union’s foreign policy chief who suggested in February that the United States slash military aid to Israel, said at the time there was no military solution to defeat Hamas.
Protesters rally outside the Defense Ministry against the government and to show support for the hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept. 1, 2024. (Reuters/Florion Goga)
Max Abrahms, a leading expert on counterterrorism and a tenured professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Fox News Digital, “Biden and Harris have been basing their recommendation to Netanyahu on American political calculations. The White Home is keenly conscious that the Democratic Celebration has a robust anti-Israel constituency. For that reason, the White Home has tried to coerce Netanyahu to withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza earlier than the Hamas menace is totally dealt with and particularly in opposition to a Rafah operation.
“Had Netanyahu heeded that advice, Sinwar would be alive. Israel is safer for ignoring this White House, an important lesson as Netanyahu weighs military options against Iran.”
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Following information of Sinwar’s loss of life, a reporter on the State Division briefing on Thursday requested Spokesman Matthew Miller whether or not the Biden Administration’s coverage in the direction of Israel invading Rafah was in hindsight preemptive.
In his response, Miller stated: “No, I will say that we always made clear that we supported Israel conducting counterterrorism operations to target the leaders of Hamas and to target Hamas militants. And not only did we make clear we supported it, but we provided active intelligence support for those operations. And I think I’ll leave it at that.”
Fox Information Digital press queries asking President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris whether or not they erred of their warnings to Netanyahu over Rafah weren’t returned.
Fox Information Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
