Retired Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, the man who pulled the trigger in the raid that took out Osama Bin Laden, has issued a bold warning to President Joe Biden and his successor, calling for unwavering support for Israel’s fight against Hamas. O’Neill praised Israel’s military strategy, particularly the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and warned against any cease-fire efforts following the killing of one of Israel’s most wanted terrorists.
“Israel is showing us how to win a war,” O’Neill said in a Newsmax interview, emphasizing that Israel’s focus on decapitating Hamas leadership is key to dismantling the terrorist organization. “They’re taking out the top leaders, and they’re going to keep doing it,” he said, adding that Israel is demonstrating the resolve that America and other Western nations need to emulate when dealing with terrorist threats.
O’Neill was critical of what he called the U.S. administration’s tendency to seek diplomatic solutions too early, noting that calls for a cease-fire after Sinwar’s death would be a mistake. “You don’t let someone start a war and then whine about a cease-fire,” O’Neill said. He commended Israel’s relentless pursuit of Sinwar, who was cornered in a building in Gaza before Israeli forces collapsed the structure with a tank shell. “The last thing that Yahya saw was probably the Israeli flag,” O’Neill added, praising Israel’s ability to strike at the heart of Hamas.
The former SEAL, who was part of the mission that killed Bin Laden in 2011, compared the significance of Sinwar’s death to his own experience. He argued that eliminating key figures like Sinwar doesn’t just cripple operational capabilities—it sends a powerful message of deterrence. “Killing Sinwar takes away a lot of [Hamas’] abilities,” he said, adding that the psychological blow to Hamas is enormous, especially after the devastating October 7 attacks that Sinwar orchestrated.
O’Neill didn’t mince words when discussing the broader geopolitical situation, specifically calling out nations like Qatar, which he accused of harboring Hamas leaders. “Our supposed ally in Qatar needs to round up the Hamas leaders hiding on its soil and hand them over to Israel,” O’Neill said. He also pointed to Iran as the ultimate enemy backing terrorist organizations like Hamas, underscoring the need for the U.S. to remain vigilant in countering Tehran’s influence in the region.
Reflecting on his own military experience, O’Neill also took the opportunity to criticize the leniency shown to terrorists in the U.S., particularly referencing the plea deals offered to the 9/11 plotters, including mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. O’Neill had previously expressed outrage over the plea agreement that spared these terrorists from the death penalty, calling it a “slap in the face” to the families of the nearly 3,000 victims who waited over two decades for justice.
He reiterated his belief that strong, decisive action against terrorist leaders is essential, and that anything less—whether it’s in Gaza or in U.S. courts—risks emboldening those who seek to harm the innocent. “What Israel is doing by targeting leaders like Sinwar should be a blueprint for how the West handles terrorism,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill’s comments come amid mounting international pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire, as the conflict with Hamas intensifies. While many global leaders have called for restraint, O’Neill’s remarks underscore the perspective that defeating terrorism requires more than diplomacy—it demands eliminating those who lead and fuel these violent ideologies. For O’Neill, Israel’s approach is not only justified but essential to preventing future attacks, both in the Middle East and around the world.
He concluded by warning Biden and future U.S. presidents that failure to back Israel fully in its fight against Hamas and other terror organizations would send the wrong message, not just to terrorists but to America’s allies. “This is the model for how you win wars,” O’Neill insisted, urging U.S. leaders to take note of Israel’s military strategy and avoid seeking premature diplomatic resolutions that could leave terrorists free to strike again.
