On the picture of victory, once again – Jack Khoury in Haaretz:

‘Hamas grew new leaders after each assassination, and the Israeli public learned new names which, seemingly overnight, were on everyone's lips. Most of these assassinations were sporadic or as part of campaigns that were limited in time and scope. Israel never expected that they would result in the collapse of Hamas' infrastructure, and certainly not its ideology – but they were attempts to deter it and send messages to its leaders. At the same time, Hamas' leaders emphasized its ability to recover and present new leaders, one generation after another.’

(…)

‘Nonetheless, after more than a year of fighting, there is currently no Palestinian body or organization that can take control of Gaza without Hamas. Anyone you'd speak to in Gaza knows this well, and the Palestinian Authority and its factions don't dare raise the idea of controlling Gaza without mentioning Hamas as a partner. Egypt's last attempt for a Hamas-Fatah joint management of Gaza never got off the ground because of Hamas' standing.
This does not mean that Sinwar's death will have no effect on the balance of power in the Palestinian leadership. His death, and the earlier killing of the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Rawhi Mushtaha, will transfer the organization's center of gravity to the overseas leadership. Sinwar's deputy, Khalil Al-Hayya, who coordinates Hamas' negotiations, will become an important figure in it.’

(…)

‘It's also not clear if his successor will have information about all the hostages that he would be able to collect and transfer to the overseas leadership and negotiating teams. Some hostages are certainly held by other organizations, such as Islamic Jihad, or private gangs.’

(…)

‘ Israel now has the picture of Sinwar's mangled body, but it is doubtful that it's the picture of victory that the hostage families are hoping for.’

Read the article here.

In other words, killing leaders of Hamas is mainly a symbolic endeavor. The extrajudicial assassination as a symbolic measure.

And the hostages have been abandoned by their own government a long time ago already.

In the meantime, the empty and bloody search for the ‘picture of victory’ continues.