ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: President Joe Biden said Thursday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israeli troops is a “good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world,” and called it an “opportunity” to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas and end the yearlong war in Gaza.
Biden, in a statement, compared it to the feeling in the US after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying the killing of the mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel “proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes.”
Biden said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them “and to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all.”
Biden said with Sinwar’s death “there is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
He praised US special operations forces and intelligence operatives who helped advise Israeli allies on tracking and locating Sinwar and other Hamas leaders over the last year — though the US said the operation that killed Sinwar was an Israeli one.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan called Sinwar a “massive obstacle” to peace. He added, “his removal from the battlefield does present an opportunity to find a way forward that gets the hostages home.”
Biden says Sinwar’s death is ‘good day’ for world, ‘opportunity’ for hostage deal, end to Gaza war
https://arab.news/49dgz
Biden says Sinwar’s death is ‘good day’ for world, ‘opportunity’ for hostage deal, end to Gaza war
- Biden, in a statement, compared it to the feeling in the US after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
- Biden said with Sinwar’s death “there is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power”
Iran says students have right to protest but must know ‘red lines’
- University students in Iran started a new semester Saturday with pro- and anti-government rallies, according to local media
Tehran: University students have the right to protest but everyone must “understand the red lines,” the Iranian government’s spokeswoman said Tuesday, in the first official reaction to renewed rallies on campuses since the weekend.
“Sacred things and the flag are two examples of these red lines that we must protect and not cross or deviate from, even at the height of anger,” Fatemeh MoHajjerani said.
She said Iran’s students “have wounds in their hearts and have seen scenes that may upset and anger them; this anger is understandable.”
University students in Iran started a new semester Saturday with pro- and anti-government rallies, according to local media, reviving slogans from nationwide demonstrations that peaked in January and led to thousands of deaths.
Protests first began in December sparked by economic woes in the sanctions-hit country, but grew into nationwide demonstrations on January 8 and 9.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has recorded more than 7,000 deaths, while warning the full toll is likely far higher.
Iranian officials acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by “terrorist acts” fueled by the United States and Israel.
MoHajjerani on Tuesday said a fact-finding mission is investigating “the causes and factors” of the protests and will provide reports.
