For families of hostages, Sinwar’s death is a moment of satisfaction and fear

JERUSALEM — For the families and supporters of the scores of hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip, the killing of Yahya Sinwar, their chief captor, brought both a moment of satisfaction and deep trepidation for the fate of the captives.

“On the one hand it’s a national closing of the circle,” said Anna Astmaker, a cousin of Karina Ariev, a surveillance soldier who was abducted from her army base near the Gaza border last year and who turned 20 in captivity.

“I heard a lot of celebrations and cheers of joy in my neighborhood, and justifiably so,” Astmaker said, speaking by telephone from her home in Jerusalem soon after Sinwar’s death was confirmed. “But my head immediately filled with questions,” she added.

“What does it mean for Karina and the other hostages?” she said, raising the prospect of an accelerated push for a deal to bring them home or, more darkly, the possibility that Sinwar’s supporters could avenge his killing by harming them.

Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, was an architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel during which more than 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others — civilians and soldiers — were captured and taken into Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

More than 100 hostages were released in an initial deal last November during a temporary cease-fire in fighting after Israel had launched a punishing counteroffensive, and in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees from custody in Israel.

Of the 101 hostages remaining in Gaza, at least a third are believed to be dead.

Only eight hostages have been rescued alive by Israeli forces. Others were taken into Gaza dead, have since been killed by their captors or, in some cases, were killed accidentally by Israeli fire.

Adding to the fears and sense of urgency over the fate of those remaining, six hostages were fatally shot at close range in late August by their captors in a tunnel in Rafah, in southern Gaza, apparently as Israeli soldiers, unaware of their presence, were operating nearby, aboveground, according to Israeli officials.

Negotiations for a new cease-fire deal that would bring about the hostages’ release have been at an impasse for some time.

Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker and one of the most vocal and prominent campaigners for a hostage deal, said in a video statement, “Now, more than ever, the lives of my son Matan and the other hostages are in tangible danger.”

Einav Zangauker, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, implored the Israeli government to come up with a new diplomatic initiative. “Don’t bury the hostages,” she said, adding, “You have your victory image. Now bring a deal.”

Critics have accused Netanyahu of delaying a deal in recent months by adding new conditions. Netanyahu, in turn, blamed the failure on Sinwar.

In a televised statement announcing Sinwar’s death, Netanyahu addressed the families of the hostages, saying it was his, and the country’s, “supreme commitment” to bring them home. He called on all those holding the hostages to put down their weapons and give them up, promising that those who did so would be allowed to come out of hiding and live.

Astmaker said it was not clear to the families if the government knew where the hostages were, or what their situation was. The family of Ariev, the surveillance soldier, last received a sign that she was alive several months ago.

The Hostages Families Forum, a grassroots group that supports the hostages’ families and advocates their release, commended Israeli security forces for eliminating Sinwar, but also spoke to the precariousness of the moment.

“We express deep concern for the fate of the 101 men, women, elderly and children still held captive by Hamas in Gaza,” the group said in a statement.

Yehuda Cohen, the father of an abducted soldier, told Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, that the death of Sinwar could have two very different outcomes for the hostages, echoing the concerns of Astmaker and Einav Zangauker. It could help advance a process toward their release, he said. But he also said he was “fearful,” particularly after the killing of the six hostages in August.

“I hope no order has gone out,” he said, meaning an order for the gunmen holding the hostages to execute them should Sinwar be killed.