Yahia Shinar is finally off the list of problems for Israel, or to be more precise the “live” problems as it seems that even the dead Hamas chief raises issues for Beniamin Netanyahu.

The Hamas leader was killed Wednesday afternoon in a building in Tal Ash Sultan in Rafah, south of Gaza. Details of when and how the Israeli army located and neutralized Shinwar were revealed by an Israeli military source to protothema.gr.

An Israeli army reconnaissance team on a routine check on a road in the area was confronted by a group of five men, who, when they noticed a military presence, began firing grenades at them. According to the IDF source, the army unit, which is not part of the special forces, returned fire, killing four of them. The fifth entered a house which was nearby and barricaded himself in.

The Israeli army team, following the “protocol” of the Gaza field, activated a detection drone with a camera, which entered the house in order to find this man and also to identify him. The man began throwing rocks and sticks at the drone as his gun was out of bullets and had no ammunition.

Watch a video of Shinar’s final moments below:

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Along with the drone, the Israeli soldiers’ team covered the entire area with a sniper, who, according to protothema.gr, has been in the army doing his service in recent months. The sniper, despite being no older than 20 years old, found the right spot and, upon receiving the order from his unit commander, executed the man, who was none other than Shinwar, with one shot to the head.

The dangers to Israel of a headless Hamas

Videos of Israelis gloating over Shinwar’s death may have filled social media with the first announcement of his demise, but that in no way means that on the one hand, all of Israel has staged a “celebration” and on the other hand there were correspondingly many – if not more – videos from the families of the hostages who have been calling here and now for the Prime Minister of the country to return their own people now that the “Shinar barrier” no longer exists.

Sinwar may have been enemy number one for Israel and the mastermind behind the black day when more than 1,000 Israelis lost their lives, but for those inside Gaza, he was the person who kept the balance even with the Strip in ruins. But why does a balance within Hamas matter to Israel? With Hamas headless and with absolutely no room for a worthy successor in the leadership chair – there remains only the confirmation that Mohammed Shinar, Yahya’s brother, is also dead – the surviving members of the organization have no “narrative” to fight.

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That in itself is not a negative if the reduction is done in a Western logic framework though. For members of Hamas, the hard core of the organization, perhaps the coming days will be days of revenge for Shinwar even if it means they will fall dead. In this revenge context, the first thing they will want to do is execute those of the 101 hostages who remain alive, and do so in a way that will hurt Israel even more.

For Netanyahu, who especially in the last month and a half has managed to dismantle not one but two organizations, the scenario of having those Israeli hostages still alive in Gaza executed in a gruesome manner by Hamas members is a nightmare. Shinwar is dead and Hamas, or at least the organization as we have known it until now, is probably dead too. But Israel’s problems remain and the popular demand from the secular state of Israel for a lasting solution in Gaza is back in the equation. Netanyahu, who lately when measured poll-wise without his far-right partners, has seen his ratings move upward, must quickly provide this concrete answer to society and the families of the hostages.

Pressure is already coming from abroad, though. Yesterday’s phone call with Joe Biden had “congratulations” as well as “wants” with the US still having at least 8 of its own civilians inside Gaza. Joe Biden has asked Netanyahu for a draft agreement in order to address the humanitarian crisis in addition to the hostages. Analysts believe that a new ceasefire plan will reach Tel Aviv immediately and this time there will be no “objection” on the table from the retreating Hamas. The ball will this time be in Israel’s “court” only.

It is given that after yesterday’s message to the remaining “cells” of Hamas “lay down your arms and you will live” the Israeli Prime Minister will immediately proceed – if he is not already doing so as this text is being written – with a coordinated and large-scale sweep of the Strip to find hostages if he can. If this plan fails, the “ghost” of Shinar will bring trouble.