It is rare that I find gratification in someone’s death, but a prominent exception is made with the news last week that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Israel’s most wanted man, has finally been killed (“What we know about Yahya Sinwar’s death in Gaza,” web, Oct. 18).

Sinwar is believed to have been the key cog in unleashing the savagery that took the lives of over 1,200 individuals — most of them innocent Israeli civilians — in Israel’s modern day of horror and infamy on Oct. 7, 2023. It is a day that shall never be forgotten, as it was the worst mass homicide against Jews since the Holocaust.

The Hamas onslaught was not simply enacted in order to kill, but to make the deaths as agonizing as possible, demonstrating the sadistic nature of the terrorists and their leaders. Children were forced to witness their parents’ slaughter and vice versa. Many of those targeted were raped. Victims were burned alive.

In yet another war crime perpetrated on that day, hundreds were taken hostage, and many of them have since died or been murdered in captivity. Reports from those who were held by Hamas reflect their existence in ghastly conditions, confined with no access to fresh air or sunlight and often provided food that barely kept them from starvation.

Sinwar knew precisely how Israel would respond to its barbarity: It would do everything it could to root out the terrorists and there would be massive casualties of Palestinian civilians as a result. His desire to wipe Israel off the face of the map and accept the consequences of his escalation of the conflict between the two sides demonstrated that he had no concern for the deaths and injuries suffered by the residents of Gaza.

Eliminating Sinwar in no way eliminates the threat that Israel faces on multiple fronts, but it is an important milestone and something that had to be done.

OREN SPIEGLER

Peters Township, Pennsylvania

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