UN urges ceasefire in the wake of killing of Hamas leader

Will the warring parties in the Middle East agree to a ceasefire in the wake of the killing of Hamas’ chief?

That is the call of UN Secretary General and the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.

“The Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) is interested that this now leads to an immediate cease fire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza,”Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said Friday (Oct. 18).

“Mr Tor Wennesland [Editor’s Note: the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process] said that today we are at a critical juncture. We must seize the moment to silence the guns and release the hostages now. He calls on all sides to engage in dialog and reach a deal.”

Benyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday (Oct. 17) Israel ‘settled its account ‘with late Hamas leader but that war was not ended yet.

Netanyahu added that his country’s military will keep fighting until the hostages are released and will remain in Gaza to prevent a severely weakened Hamas from rearming.

The Palestinian militant group has reiterated its stance on the fate of Israeli nationals it abducted a year ago.

“Those prisoners will not return to you before the end of the aggression on Gaza and the withdrawal from Gaza,” said Khalil al-Hayya, who was Sinwar’s Qatar-based deputy and headed up the group’s delegation during several rounds of ceasefire negotiations mediated by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt.

The families of hostages remain caught between deep fear and cautious optimism.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group said Friday (Oct. 18) it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops, as the region reckons with the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a battle with Israeli forces in Gaza.