Israel’s elimination of top Hamas terrorist was a result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defiance of the Biden administration’s efforts to end the Gaza war, block Israel from entering Rafah, experts say.
By World Israel News Staff
The Biden administration last week congratulated Israel and the IDF on the killing of Yahya Sinwar – chief of the Hamas politburo, leader of Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip, and architect of the October 7th invasion – lauding his elimination as “relief” and the removal of “an insurmountable obstacle” to ceasefire talks.
A number Middle East and counter-terrorism experts, however, say Sinwar’s elimination would not have been possible had Israel followed calls by the Biden administration to end the war against Hamas or caved to pressure from the White House not to enter the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Sinwar was ultimately shot and killed.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Biden administration has urged Israel to end its war in the Gaza Strip and reach a permanent ceasefire with Hamas.
At the same time, the White house repeatedly warned Israel not to enter Rafah, saying a large-scale operation in the city, which prior to the operation housed roughly half of Gaza’s population – most of them internally displaced refugees – would inevitably result in massive civilian casualties.
“We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” Harris told ABC News in March.”Let me tell you something. I have studied the maps. There’s nowhere for those folks to go.”
Even after IDF forces launched the Rafah offensive on May 6th, seizing control over the border crossings with Egypt, the White house persisted in pressuring Israel not to advance into the city of Rafah itself.
“The president doesn’t want to see operations in Rafah that put at greater risk the more than a million people that are seeking refuge there,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on May 6th, after Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone, urging him not to expand the ground operation into Rafah proper.
Two days later, Biden warned that he would bar the transfer of heavy aerial ordinance to Israel if the IDF entered the city of Rafah.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – 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,” Biden told CNN.
American-Israeli journalist Caroline Glick, who ran for Knesset with Naftali Bennett in 2019, excoriated Kamala Harris over her March comments, tweeting: “Sinwar was killed in Rafah – a mile from the Egyptian border. Kamala threatened Israel with sanctions if we went in. Oh, and she studied the maps.”
Lt. Col. (Res.) Yoni Chetboun, a former Israeli lawmaker who served as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and former officer in the IDF’s elite Egoz counter-terror unit, told Fox News that had Israel adhered to the Biden administration’s demands, Sinwar would not have been eliminated.
“Had Prime Minister Netanyahu listened to Biden and Harris and not entered Rafah, we may have never reached Sinwar. The people of America and Israel overwhelmingly supported our entry into Rafah and want to see Hamas committed to the annals of history. Now it’s time to finish Hamas and bring home the hostages.”
Counter-terrorism expert and Northwestern University professor Max Abrahms echoed Chetboun’s comments.
“Had Netanyahu heeded that advice, Sinwar would be alive,” Abrahms told Fox News. “Israel is safer for ignoring this White House, an important lesson as Netanyahu weighs military options against Iran.”
When asked last Thursday whether the administration’s calls not to enter Rafah had been mistaken in light of Sinwar’s elimination, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller refused to walk back the administration’s admonitions.
“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.”