Khamenei says death of ‘heroic mujahid’ Sinwar won’t stop ‘Axis of Resistance’

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Saturday that the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar will not stop the “Axis of Resistance” and that Hamas will continue to exist, news agency Reuters reported.

“His loss is undoubtedly painful for the Axis of Resistance, but this front did not cease advancing with the martyrdom of prominent figures,” Khamenei said in a statement.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwa, who ordered the October 7 attack on Israel, was killed on Friday. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) announced Sinwar’s death on Thursday, October 17, and Hamas confirmed it the next day on Friday (October 18). He was one of the primary targets of Israel.

Israel had released a drone footage showing Yahya Sinwar’s final moments. The video showed him slumped in a chair covered in dust, with a bleeding right hand. As the drone hovered nearby, the video showed him throwing a stick at it in an apparent act of desperation or defiance. Soon after, a tank shell was fired into the building, and he was found dead later with his head smashed.

Hamas confirmed the death of the group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, and vowed it will not release the hostages it seized on October 7 until the aggression in Gaza ends.

The October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis, was the deadliest terrorist attack on the Jewish state, and plunged the Middle East into chaos.

Yahya Sinwar, known for his brutal enforcement against Palestinians who cooperated with Israel and his staunch opposition to the state, was imprisoned for many years by Israel. He rose to leadership on August 6, succeeding the former political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran days earlier.