(Fox News) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to ignore dire warnings from President Biden and Vice President Harris not to conquer the last major stronghold of Hamas terrorists in Rafah proved to be correct, according to military and Middle East experts.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the country’s Shin Bet intelligence agency announced Wednesday that “soldiers from the Southern Command eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip.”
Biden and Harris congratulated Israel over the death of the Hamas terror chief, but, earlier this year, both warned Israel about going into Rafah, where Sinwar met his end.
IDF forces operating in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesman’s Office)
Sinwar oversaw the massacre of nearly 1,200 people Oct. 7, 2023, including over 40 American citizens.
In March, Harris declined to rule out “consequences” for Israel if it moved forward with an invasion of Rafah in Gaza.
“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 at the time.”Let me tell you something. I have studied the maps. There’s nowhere for those folks to go.”
Also in March, Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan echoed Harris’ warning.
“Our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else,” Sullivan noted during a White House Press briefing. “But a major ground operation there would be a mistake. It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally.”
President Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House July 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
In May, Biden went as far as threatening Israel, saying he would not furnish the Jewish state with weapons if it entered Rafah. Biden told CNN “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.”
Amit Segal, chief political analyst of Israel’s Channel 12, told Fox News Digital, “The elimination of Sinwar proves that the continuation of the war was not a whim, the entry into Rafah was not a vendetta and the refusal to surrender to Hamas to resolve the northern front was not a rash decision.”
He continued, “There is a strategy, and it is to ensure, front by front, that the entire Middle East sees what happens to those who attack Israel.”
