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Rep. LaHood sees opportunity for hostage deal after death of Hamas leader

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood shakes hands with another person
Emily Bollinger
/
WGLT
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood at a dedication ceremony for a new nursing simulation center at Illinois State University in Normal on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said he hopes the death of the leader of the Hamas movement provides an opportunity to push forward with a deal to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

An Israeli training unit happened upon Hamas head Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, and after a fight, killed him. LaHood sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

"This should be a wake up call to Hamas that going the direction they went, particularly after Oct. 7 of last year is not the right direction they need to go," said LaHood, a Republican who represents parts of Bloomington-Normal and Peoria.

He said Sinwar was the major obstacle to reaching a deal for hostage release.

Sinwar's death and the military degradation of Hezbollah in Lebanon may open the door to bigger humanitarian relief efforts, said LaHood, adding after Israeli mass relocation orders in southern Lebanon to remove the "malign influence" and "cancer" of Hezbollah, the area needs to be stabilized.

"To fill that void in southern Lebanon we need the LAF to fill that void, the Lebanese Armed Forces that the U.S. funds, to come in and fill that void in an appropriate way, and UNIFIL. There are 11,000 UNIFIL troops there. They need to do their job, too," said LaHood, who was in Normal on Thursday for the dedication of a new nursing simulation center at Illinois State University.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission [UNIFIL] has been in Lebanon for 45 years.

LaHood doesn't think there is an obvious successor to Sinwar within Hamas, though he hopes that disorganization does not impede a ceasefire deal. He said there are many Palestinians in Gaza who do not favor the Hamas strategy against Israel.

The Sinwar development, he said, also could send a message to the backers of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen — Iran.

"Their proxies have been significantly degraded both within Hamas, with Hezbollah, and the Houthis. I would hope this is a wake up call to the Iranian regime that they should go in a different direction," said LaHood.

The Biden administration recently suggested withholding arms transfers to Israel as pressure for a cease fire and hostage deal. LaHood said the battlefield success of the Israeli forces shows that U.S. threat was not a good idea.

He also said the lack of important military result from two Iranian missile attacks against Israel suggests to Iran that such tactics are an ineffective strategy, and that getting along is a better one.

WGLT Senior Reporter Charlie Schlenker has spent more than three award-winning decades in radio. He lives in Normal with his family.