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By Jonathan Saul and Maayan Lubell
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Families of Israeli hostages taken captive to Gaza by Islamist group Hamas fear their loved ones are in greater danger after Israeli troops killed the militant group's leader, Yahya Sinwar.
Israel's military and the Shin Bet security service confirmed on Thursday that Sinwar, the architect of the devastating attack on Israel last October that set off the Gaza war, had been killed on Wednesday by Israeli forces who were conducting an operation in southern Gaza.
"We have settled the score with the chief murderer Sinwar. But now, more than ever, the lives of Matan, my son, and the other hostages are in tangible danger," said Einav Zangauker, whose 24-year-old son was abducted from their kibbutz home during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
"There will not be a real closing of the circle, no total victory if we do not save their lives and bring them all back," said Zangauker in a video after news of Sinwar's death emerged on Thursday.
So far, 117 hostages have returned home alive, including four released at the start of the Gaza war, 105 mostly women, children and foreigners returned last November during a brief truce with Hamas, and eight rescued by the military.
Thirty-seven were brought back dead. That leaves 101 hostages still in Gaza by Israeli tallies, at least half of whom Israeli authorities believe are still alive.
Orna and Ronen Neutra, the parents of Israeli American hostage Omer, said it was critical that all efforts focus on returning those held by Hamas. They called on the Israeli and U.S. governments to "act swiftly and do whatever is needed to reach a deal with the captors".
"Sinwar, who was described as a major obstacle to a deal, is no longer alive," they said in a statement.
"We are at an inflection point where the goals set for the war with Gaza have been achieved, all but the release of the hostages."
Israel's campaign in response has killed more than 42,000 people according to Gaza health officials, turned much of the enclave into rubble and displaced most of its population. But Sinwar had eluded detection, possibly hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza during the past two decades.
In Tel Aviv's so-called Hostages Square, which has become the focal point for protests against the government by families and supporters frustrated at limited progress in returning them, there was unease at what happens next.
"I feel a bit numb ... I have a deep concern for the hostages, and it's very difficult to find faith and hope," said Anat Ron Kandle, a Tel Aviv resident who survived the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
"The man responsible for the massacre is dead ... I'm not sure what does it mean about our hostages and their safety and how many of them are still alive? And I'm very deeply, deeply concerned with it."
(Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; additional reporting by Ilan Rozenberg in Tel Aviv; Editing by Rod Nickel)
