Haaretz: 'Why Kill Him Now': Israeli Hostage Families Fear Impact of Haniyeh Killing on Cease-fire Deal

'Why now that there is a deal on the table, did they choose to kill him?' a relative of a hostage asked. While the impact of Haniyeh's death is hard to predict, it may soften Israel's position now it has achieved an 'image of victory'

It is still premature to predict how Wednesday's assassination of Hamas' political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran will impact efforts to move toward a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

Will the incident prompt the terror group to declare a temporary halt to the negotiations, blow them up, or maybe pressure its senior officials to expedite steps that will bring about a calm and give them a safety net?

Israel's attempted assassination of Mohammed Deif two weeks ago, the outcome of which is still not clear, had only a marginal effect on the indirect discourse between Israel and Hamas and did not cause the latter to withdraw from negotiations. It is possible this is due to the uncertainty created by Hamas over Deif's fate following the strike.

Currently, Israel and the mediators are awaiting Hamas's reply to the revised proposal that Mossad chief David Barnea delivered to the mediators in Rome on Sunday.

The killing of Haniyeh may also facilitate more flexibility on Israel's part, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the negotiations for the hostages' release after securing an "image of victory."

A political source said that "At this stage, we cannot say what the repercussions of the assassination will be on the negotiations that have been taking place in recent days, and we are waiting to learn about the developments," he told Haaretz.

The source refused to comment on the possibility that Israel was behind the assassination, as well as on the question of whether the political echelon took into account the danger to the fate of the hostages and their release following the assassination.

Haniyeh, who lived in Qatar in recent years, is considered a key figure in overseeing the negotiations, and at least part of the time backed their progress. This is in contrast with the stance of the leadership in Gaza, though in recent weeks, Israel is seeing significant pressure from senior Hamas figures in Gaza to move the deal forward.

A senior Israeli official said this week that the voices within Hamas advocating for a compromise reflect the current territorial predicament of Hamas. The public pressure to stop fighting alongside the disintegration of the group's military forces and the loss of strategic assets such as the Philadelphi corridor and the Rafah crossing have all increased the pressure for a truce.

Family members of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza expressed concern that Haniyeh's assassination would seriously damage negotiations to get their loved ones home.

"Haniyeh could have been killed 15 years ago, and they didn't do it. Why now that there is a deal on the table, did they choose to kill him?" asked Sharon Lifshitz, daughter of hostage Oded Lifshitz.

Naama Weinberg, cousin of hostage Itai Svirsky, whose body is being held in Gaza, said "it appalls me that once again this government chooses to eliminate the terrorists first before rescuing the hostages."

"The choice to eliminate the senior officials before rescuing the hostages was made, the order of priorities was determined," she said.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said that the assassination of Haniyeh must not be the end of negotiations to bring the hostages home, and implored Netanyahu that his "responsibility is first and foremost to return the hostages."

Einav Mozes, the daughter-in-law of hostage Gadi Mozes, said that the news of the assassination of Haniyeh made her family fear the consequences. "Each event like this raises a lot of concerns, we have been in existential anxiety for ten months, and every time there is a deal on the table, and there is an event like this, it scares us," she said.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement, saying that "Israel has made significant security achievements, but the state must remember that victory is not achievable without the return of the hostages. That is the purpose of the war. That is the most important moral and national goal.