Biden told Netanyahu he must stop escalating tensions in the region and move immediately toward a deal.
My hope here is that ultimately no one wants a bigger war and that Netanyahu can take the assassination as a win however he needs. Hostages need to come home.
However, in the long term, Haniyeh’s assassination and the killing of other senior Hamas leaders could serve as a path for Israel to reduce its military operations in Gaza. In the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on October 7, Israeli leadership laid out several objectives, including the destruction of Hamas. “If you want peace, destroy Hamas. If you want security, destroy Hamas. If you want a future for Israel, the Palestinians, the Middle East, destroy Hamas,” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared. As many analysts have noted and as the first 10 months of fighting have demonstrated, it is impossible for Israel to root out every Hamas fighter and untangle the group from its deeply embedded social, religious, and educational networks across Gaza. Instead, the killing of senior Hamas leaders could serve as an alternative form of success that enables Netanyahu and the Israeli government to claim victory and reduce its military operations in Gaza. The assassinations of Haniyeh and Deif make this path appear increasingly credible. As journalist Oz Katerji put it, “Israel is now just one Sinwar assassination away from being able to declare a ‘victory’ over Hamas in Gaza.”