MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. The assassination of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar reported earlier by the Israel Defense Forces may push the remaining leadership of the Palestinian movement to start negotiations with Tel Aviv, Vladimir Fitin, adviser to the director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, told TASS.

"If what Israel reports really happened and they managed to eliminate Sinwar, this is likely to deal a serious blow to Hamas, which has lost a number of its leaders one after the other. And perhaps it will encourage the rest of the Hamas leadership to negotiate with Israel. It is not impossible that some steps will be taken in this direction," the expert said.

Fitin also opined that it is unlikely that Hamas can now mount a serious military response to Israel following the assassination. "Hamas's military potential has been significantly weakened," he pointed out. "They are unlikely to be able to carry out a serious military response. They are capable of individual sorties, but nothing more," the expert underscored.

"The reaction (of regional players - TASS) will be familiar. Everyone will do as they are expected. The entire Muslim community will condemn harshly. Iran and Qatar will react the harshest. The major Gulf states and Egypt may condemn verbally, but they will not take any action, trying to maintain a more or less neutral position," Fitin said, speculating on the reaction of regional players.

On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces press service said that Sinwar was eliminated during an Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza Strip on October 16. He is considered by the country's authorities to be one of the main organizers of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas has not yet officially commented on reports of Sinwar's death.