ERIC WESTERVELT, HOST:
Many world leaders have not shied away from reacting to Israel's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Vice President Kamala Harris said Sinwar's death serves as a chance to end the war in Gaza. French President Emmanuel Macron called it a turning point. But as NPR's Arezou Rezvani reports from Beirut, capitals across the Middle East haven't been so outspoken.
AREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE: The Saudis have been quiet. Jordan - mum. Egypt - not a word.
FIRAS MAKSAD: The regional reaction has been largely muted. And it's one of those situations where the silence speak volumes.
REZVANI: That's Firas Maksad, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. He says, even though many leaders in the Arab world have no love lost for Hamas, there's a reluctance to say so. Praising the killing of Sinwar could suggest sympathy for Israel, and anger people upset over how Israel's war against Hamas has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza. Over the weekend, demonstrators in Iraq stormed the office of a Saudi TV station after a reporter referred to Iran-backed militant figures, including Yahya Sinwar, as terrorists. Who is filling that silence is Iran. It is making Sinwar out to be an icon for resistance. Firas Maksad of the Middle East Institute says it's an image Israel helped create by releasing drone footage of Sinwar - his face wrapped in the Palestinian keffiyeh, wounded and throwing a stick at the drone moments before he was killed.
MAKSAD: Many do believe that that would only help the Iranians draw up that image of an iconic leader who fought until the last breath rather than being hidden in the tunnels, as Israelis had long described the situation to be.
REZVANI: Hours after Sinwar's killing was confirmed, Hezbollah announced it's moving toward a, quote, "new phase of escalation" with Israel, which suggests that, dead or alive, the war Yahya Sinwar started is on track to continue. Arezou Rezvani, NPR News, Beirut.
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