With the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar dead, what now for the conflict in Gaza? An Israeli minister tells us it brings a hostage release closer, but in its first statement since the killing, Hamas sounds defiant. One close observer of the group tells us that the Israeli Prime Minister will not get his way. We hear reaction from across the region and from the US. Also in the programme: South Korea's intelligence service confirms the transfer of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia, to help fight Ukraine. (IMAGE: A person holds a sign with a reference to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, after Israeli military said they have killed him, as families and supporters of hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, protest to demand their immediate release, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 17, 2024 / CREDIT: REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura)
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Hello, and welcome to Newshour.
It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London.
I'm Tim Franks.
This time yesterday, exactly this time yesterday, we were getting first reports that the israeli military was checking whether its soldiers had indeed killed their number one target in Gaza.
It didnt take long for confirmation to come.
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, had been killed after a firefight in the south of the Strip.
He was one of the most powerful leaders Hamas has ever had, the man whod orchestrated the October 7 massacre of Israelis that had then precipitated the overwhelming israeli response in which the israeli military has laid waste to so much of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, events which have now led to war being unleashed in Lebanon and the possibility of further direct clashes between Israel and Iran.