One of the political leaders of Hamas, Khalil al-Hayya, confirmed the death of the top leader of the terrorist group Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.
In a video statement, he said Sinwar’s death will only serve to strengthen the Iranian-backed militia and promised that “the occupiers” will soon regret killing him, referring to the Israeli troops who carried out the operation in the south. of the Strip late on Wednesday.
He also warned that the 101 hostages still held by the terrorist group in Gaza will not be released if the war does not stop and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) do not withdraw from the Palestinian enclave: “They will not be free unless the aggression against them stops. our people, there will be a complete withdrawal, and our heroic prisoners will be released from the prisons of the occupation,” he declared.
“Yahya Sinwar and all the leaders and symbols of the movement who preceded him on the path of dignity and martyrdom, and the project of liberation and return, will only build our movement and give strength to the resistance,” said the official based in Qatar.
The military wing of the movement that perpetrated the October 7 massacre in Israeli territory, in which more than a thousand people were murdered and another 250 kidnapped, has promised that it will fight until the end of its lives for “the liberation of Palestine.”
Al-Hayya, who was Sinwar’s envoy to lead the group’s delegation during several rounds of ceasefire negotiations mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
In a statement, Hamas praised Sinwar as a hero who “rose as a heroic martyr, advancing and not retreating, brandishing his weapon, attacking and confronting the occupation army at the front of the ranks.”
The statement appeared to refer to a video circulated by the Israeli military of Sinwar’s apparent last moments, in which a man sits in a chair in a badly damaged building, seriously injured and covered in dust. In the video, the man raises his hand and throws a stick at an approaching Israeli drone.
Sinwar’s death, which occurred Wednesday in what appeared to be a chance frontline encounter with Israeli troops, could change the dynamics of the war in Gaza, as Israel continues its offensive against Hezbollah with ground troops in southern Lebanon and airstrikes. in other areas of the country. Hezbollah has fired rockets into Israel almost every day since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, which hailed Sinwar as a martyr who can inspire others to challenge Israel.
This country is committed to politically destroying Hamas in Gaza, and killing Sinwar was a top military priority. Photographs apparently taken by Israeli troops at the scene showed the body of a man who appeared to be him, half-buried in the rubble with an open wound on his head.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech announcing the assassination Thursday night that “our war is not over yet.”
But many, from Israel’s allied governments to the exhausted residents of Gaza, expressed hope that Sinwar’s death would pave the way for an end to the war.
In Israel, families of hostages still held in Gaza demanded the Israeli government use Sinwar’s killing as a way to restart negotiations to bring their loved ones home. There are around 100 hostages in Gaza, at least 30 of whom Israel says are dead.
“We are at a turning point where all the goals set for the war with Gaza have been achieved, except for the release of the hostages,” Ronen Neutra, father of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, said in a video statement: “Sinwar, who was described as a major obstacle to a deal, is no longer alive.”
Netanyahu had planned to call a special meeting on Friday to discuss the hostage negotiations, an Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations issued a statement honoring Sinwar, emphasizing that he died on the battlefield and not in hiding, unlike his former enemy, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006.
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