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Enioluwa Adeniyi
Guest
Palestinian militant group Hamas has officially confirmed the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, following an announcement by Israeli authorities.
Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official based in Qatar, expressed the group’s sorrow in a video statement broadcast by Al Jazeera, mourning Sinwar as a “great leader” and “martyred brother.”
Sinwar emerged as Israel’s most wanted man after the October 7, 2023, attack, which has been described as the deadliest in Israeli history.
Israel declared Sinwar’s death on Thursday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeling it a “heavy blow” to Hamas, an organization that has been engaged in conflict with Israeli forces in Gaza for over a year.
The October 7 attack led to the deaths of 1,206 people, predominantly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
In the aftermath, Hamas militants took 251 hostages, with 97 still believed to be in Gaza, including 34 individuals whom Israeli officials claim are dead.
In his statement, Hayya emphasized that Hamas would not release the hostages until the conflict in Gaza comes to an end.
“The hostages will not return… unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops,” he stated, further urging Israel to withdraw from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The ongoing Israeli military campaign against Hamas has resulted in approximately 42,500 fatalities in Gaza, with the majority identified as civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, figures that the United Nations considers reliable.
Hayya asserted that Hamas would draw strength from Sinwar’s killing, noting that he has now joined “the leaders and symbols of the movement who preceded him.”
As Gaza’s leader throughout the ongoing conflict, Sinwar had been named the overall chief of Hamas in August, following the assassination of the group’s political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on July 31.
Sinwar had not appeared in public since the October 7 attack, with Israeli commanders believing he was hiding in a complex network of tunnels constructed by Hamas beneath the Gaza Strip over the years.
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