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Hamas is alive, will remain alive despite Sinwar’s loss: Leader
In a message on Saturday, a day after Palestine’s Hamas resistance group confirmed the death of its leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, Ayatollah Khamenei extended his condolences to his family, comrades, and all those devoted to jihad (struggle) for the sake of God.
He praised Sinwar for his significant role in confronting the “aggressive enemy,” describing him as a “shining figure” of resistance and struggle.
“He was a shining figure of resistance and struggle. With a steely resolve, he stood firm against the oppressive and aggressive enemy,” he wrote.
“With wisdom and courage, he struck it (the enemy) hard, leaving behind the irreversible blow of October 7 in the history of this region. And then, with dignity and pride, he ascended to the heavens of the martyrs.”
The Leader also emphasized the unwavering trajectory of the resistance front, stating that it remains unstoppable despite the martyrdom of its “prominent” figures.
“Someone like [Sinwar], who spent a lifetime fighting against the usurping and oppressive enemy, deserves no end other than martyrdom. His loss is certainly painful for the resistance front, but this front did not stop advancing with the martyrdom of prominent figures such as Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Fat’hi Shaqaqi, [Abdel Aziz] Rantisi, and Ismail Haniyeh, and it will not slow down in the slightest with the martyrdom of Sinwar, God willing. Hamas is alive and will remain alive,” he said, referring to Hamas leaders all assassinated by Israel.
He reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s commitment to supporting the resistance fighters.
The Palestinian resistance group said on Friday that it would take strength from the death of Sinwar.
“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 resistance in strength,” Qatar-based official Khalil al-Hayya said in a video statement broadcast by Al Jazeera.
Hamas’s armed wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades also vowed to keep fighting Israel until the “liberation of Palestine.”
“Our fight will not stop until Palestine is liberated, the last Zionist is expelled, and all our legitimate rights are regained,” the group said in a statement.
On Friday, Hamas confirmed that Sinwar was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza’s Rafah city.
Sinwar was named the group’s paramount leader on August 6, as a successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran on July 31.
Born in a refugee camp in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Sinwar, 62, was elected as Hamas’ leader in Gaza in 2017.
The leader, who spent half his adult life in Israeli prisons, was the most powerful Hamas leader left alive following the assassination of Haniyeh.