After seemingly endless warnings from President Biden that Israel entering Rafah in an attempt to defeat Hamas would extend fighting forever, Thursday’s killing of Yahya Sinwar there might spell a turning point in the year-long Gaza war. Now, Washington is hoping to utilize the moment to shape the future of Gaza. 

“This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world,” Mr. Biden said in a statement after receiving confirmation from Israel about the killing of the Hamas political leader, who, he noted, was “responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and citizens from over 30 countries.”

Washington, which has long pressured Israel to end the Gaza war and start planning for the “day after,” now seems to be scrambling to use the moment to change the dynamics of the Mideast. Administration officials are contacting counterparts at allied Arab capitals, while Mr. Biden was expected to soon call Prime Minister Netanyahu.   

“Hamas is decimated and its leadership is eliminated,” Vice President Harris told reporters in a prepared statement. “This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza, and it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.”

Months ago, Mr. Netanayhu defined the war goals in Gaza as the release of hostages, the ending of Hamas’s control over the Strip, and the safe return home of southern Israelis who were forced to leave their communities following the October 7, 2003, Hamas massacre. The safe return of evacuees from northern communities was added as a war goal recently, as the Israel Defense Force launched lethal operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

In the aftermath of Sinwar’s killing at Rafah, Israel is offering free passage and immunity from reprisal to any Gazan who holds hostages and is willing to release them and disarm. According to Israel, 101 men, women, and children are being held in Gaza; the number of them who are alive is unknown. 

“I’m calling on anyone who is holding our hostages: Whoever releases them and lays down arms, we’ll allow you to leave Gaza and let you live,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a speech. “This is an important landmark in the demise of Hamas,” he said. “Hamas will no longer control Gaza.” He omitted any mention of a hostage deal, though. 

“Now it’s clear to everyone why we insisted not to end the war, and why we insisted on entering Rafah,” Mr. Netanyahu said. Mr. Biden, who has long leaned on the Israeli premier to end the war, and had warned against operating at Rafah, was expected to speak with Mr. Netanyahu about the negotiated release of hostages, post-war Gaza, and regional shifts. 

Following the news of Sinwar’s demise, Secretary Blinken reportedly contacted Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, in an attempt to renew negotiations over hostage releases. Last week the Doha premier accused Israel of what he described as an impasse in hostage diplomacy.

The American national security adviser, Jacob Sullivan, said that the time has come to think of the “day after” in Gaza. He also boasted that America has given Israel intelligence that helped in locating Sinwar. “In the past year, American Special Operations and intelligence personnel have worked closely with their Israeli counterparts to locate and track Sinwar,” Ms. Harris added in her comments. 

Yet, the Wednesday killing was almost accidental. Past operations, including the September 27 killing at Beirut of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, were based on precise intelligence and were executed with precision. Sinwar, in contrast, was killed alongside two companions in an unplanned fire-fight between IDF tank and infantry units and Hamas terrorists.

Praising the soldiers, including a recently recruited unit that has enlisted after the October 7 massacre, the IDF chief of staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, said they fought the terrorists “not because they knew that Sinwar was there.” 

The man who planned, launched, and commanded the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust reportedly had on him a significant amount of cash and fake passports, perhaps indicating he was planning an escape from Gaza. Months of speculation that he would be found in a tunnel, surrounded by hostages proved to be incorrect, although that is how he likely spent the war.  

On September 1, Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages inside a Gaza tunnel, including one American, Hersh Goldberg-Polin. They were murdered while begging for their lives or attempting to flee. On Thursday, their families were authorized to release previously classified information that their loved ones had been held next to Sinwar. 

A political commentator on Israel’s Channel 12, Amit Segal, pointed out that Sinwar’s “accidental” killing is reminiscent of another event in which Israeli troops were unaware of who they shot: the 1948 killing of a militant Palestinian leader, Abd al-Qadir Hosseini. That event, he added, “signaled the beginning of the end of the Independence War. This is an opportunity.”