When the first reports emerged Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was dead, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted a verse from Leviticus on X: “You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.”

Israel achieved a resounding moment of triumph when Sinwar’s death was confirmed several hours later. The architect of Hamas’s savage Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel is gone, and his death symbolizes Israel’s renewed military dominance across the Middle East. But a caution: Israel killed three Hamas leaders who preceded Sinwar without destroying that movement, so any victory announcements are premature.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed that the “day after” has arrived in the Middle East, even as he warned that the war against Israel’s enemies would continue. He seemed to offer amnesty and safe passage out of Gaza to Hamas supporters if they disarmed and handed over the Israeli hostages. That’s a laudable idea but not an effective rescue plan.

It was a day of vindication for Netanyahu, who over the past year has gone from the abysmal failure of Oct. 7 to the military equivalent of running the table. Hamas’s forces have been crushed in Gaza. Hezbollah has been decapitated in Lebanon. And Iran, which Israeli leaders often describe as “the head of the octopus,” has been unable to strike back effectively.

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But despite Israel’s military success, Netanyahu has utterly failed to prepare for........

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