Palestinian militant group Hamas has confirmed that its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed on Thursday by Israeli troops amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
A senior Hamas member, who made the confirmation on Friday, however, noted that Sinwar’s death will not deter the group from resisting Israeli occupation, adding that Sinwar’s demise can only strengthen the group.
This was coming amid the efforts by the US President Joe Biden to increase “the prospect of a ceasefire” in the year-long war, which has led to the death of nearly 42,000 people and injuring many others in Gaza.
Sinwar, who topped Israel’s most-wanted list, was killed in a firefight with Israeli troops in Rafah. He was the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attacks in Southern Israel, which killed 1,200 Israeli citizens and over 200 others taken hostage.
Israel then declared war on Hamas and within one year reduced the enclave into rubble with airstrikes, guns and tanks as IDF soldiers invaded the strip.
There have been calls for ceasefire, but the war in Gaza has raged on even as Israel insists it will not stop until it has met its stated objectives of defeating Hamas and returning the hostages,
Although Sinwar’s death dealt a significant blow to Hamas as an organization, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, said the Hamas leader’s death does not mean the end of the war in Gaza
In a defiant mode the military wing of Hamas has issued a statement to recommit the Iran-backed group to fighting until “Palestine is liberated”.
The al-Qassam Brigades said in the statement that the resistance factions know the price of liberation is very high, adding that they are prepared to lose their soldiers and leaders in the course of the struggle.
The group said it will not “submit to the enemy” and its struggle “will not stop until Palestine is liberated and the last Zionist is expelled from it”.
This was a sentiment that was echoed by another militant group Hezbollah, which vowed its continued “support for our Palestinian people”.
In a statement, the Iran-backed group went on to express its “deepest condolences” over the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Hezbollah, whose leader, Hassan Nasrallah was killed a few weeks ago by Israeli troops, described Sinwar as a “martyr” who “carried the trust and torch of leadership” from his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in July.
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