With Yahya Sinwar dead, Israel and Gaza can have a future without war

With the unexpected death of Yahya Sinwar this week, Israel suddenly finds itself at a pivotal moment in its long and painful conflict with Hamas.Sinwar, the mastermind behind numerous terrorist attacks and the orchestrator of the Oct.

7 massacre, was not just a leader but the face of Hamas’s ruthlessness.His death, while a tactical success, offers Israel the chance for something far more consequential: a strategic breakthrough that can reshape the future of Gaza, Lebanon and perhaps even Israel’s domestic politics.This is Israel’s opportunity to declare victory and move forward with a more decisive, long-term strategy that finally ends the cycle of conflict.

But for this to happen, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must act quickly and clear-headedly on several fronts: rebuilding Gaza, neutralizing Hezbollah in Lebanon and pursuing a peace initiative with Saudi Arabia.The latter possibly through the controversial trilateral normalization plan proposed almost a year ago by President Biden centered on a regional peace initiative linking Israel and Saudi Arabia through economic cooperation and normalization of ties, with US support and security guarantees.

At home, Israel could also seize the moment to establish a new, and possibly unity, government, one that will stabilize the nation politically and set the stage for lasting peace and security. Most crucially, Sinwar’s death provides a pathway to ending the war in Gaza that arose from Hamas’ deadly Oct.7 attack.

“The score has finally been set and symbolically we can begin to consider two key moves forward,” observes Doron Avital, an Israeli politician who served in the Knesset for Kadima between 2011 and 2013 and who was a commander during the 1982 Lebanon War.“First, securing the release of the hostages who are still living,” Avital says.

“And with Hamas now depleted as a military organization, determining what a ‘day after’ will look like for governing the Gaza Strip...