Guy Sarfati was skeptical when he first heard news of Sinwar’s possible death, but as time passed the 26-year-old university student became excited at the idea of ​​a victory over Hamas.

“We wake up every day in Israel to terrible news, hearing that another soldier has been killed or another hostage has been murdered in Gaza,” Sarfati told NBC News. “So finally we have some positive news to wake up to.”

But the immediate question that followed was: what does this mean for the hostages? Sarfati hopes that Sinwar’s death can be used as leverage.

“It obviously raises immediate concerns,” he said. “But I hope this can be a turning point in the war in the South because we’ve been going through this for so long.”