Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: “Hamas is a liberation movement led by people looking for freedom and dignity, and this cannot be eliminated,” said Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas’s political bureau, but stopped short of confirming death after Israel said it had killed the terror outfit’s chief Yahya Sinwar, the media reported on Friday.
In a statement, he listed several Hamas leaders killed in the past and said their deaths had boosted the group’s popularity.
Israeli soldiers killed Sinwar in a firefight in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday, with Israeli authorities confirming his identity on Thursday.
“It seems that Israel believes that killing our leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people,” Naim said.
“Hamas each time became stronger and more popular, and these leaders became an icon for future generations to continue the journey towards a free Palestine.”
An IDF drone footage ‘shows Sinwar in final moments,’ the reports said.
Drone footage released by the Israeli military on Thursday is said to show Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s final moments before he was killed.
The video appears to be shot from a drone that flies through the open window of a mostly destroyed building.
It approaches a man sitting motionless in an armchair on the first floor of a house that is littered with debris.
The man, who seems to be injured, then throws what appears to be a stick at the drone, and the video ends.
Meanwhile, celebrations broke out across Israel moments after the IDF confirmed that it had killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in an encounter in Gaza.
Several Western and NATO leaders joined the celebrations, with many congratulating Israel on Sinwar’s elimination. They hailed Sinwar’s death as ‘good riddance’ and asked Israel to now focus on getting back the remaining hostages from Gaza.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Thursday that the killing of Yahya Sinwar would lead to the strengthening of “resistance” in the region, hours after Israel confirmed it had killed the terror chief, while Lebanon’s Hezbollah declared a “transition to a new and escalatory phase” in the war.
The Islamic Republic shared a still image taken from drone footage of Sinwar’s last moments, in which the terror leader is seen, face covered and injured, throwing a stick at the Israeli surveillance device.
The mission compared Sinwar with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, a longtime foe of Iran whom American troops captured in 2003.
“When US forces dragged a disheveled Saddam Hussein out of an underground hole, he begged them not to kill him despite being armed. Those who regarded Saddam as their model of resistance eventually collapsed,” the mission said on X.
“However, when Muslims look up to Martyr Sinwar standing on the battlefield — in combat attire and out in the open, not in a hideout, facing the enemy — the spirit of resistance will be strengthened.”
Sinwar was found with some NIS 40,000 (USD 10,770) in cash, and documents including the passport of a Gazan UNRWA teacher. The Israeli military said the terror leader was probably attempting “to escape to the north (of Gaza), to safer areas” as troops closed in.
Iran supports Hamas, which invaded Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, slaughtering some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, starting the ongoing war, that has seen the tragic death of over 42,000 deaths.
Sinwar was the main architect of that attack, which saw hundreds of terrorists burst into southern Israel, attacking a music festival and carrying out widespread murder and sexual violence, as well as targeting military bases.
Sinwar “will become a model for the youth and children who will carry forward his path toward the liberation of Palestine. As long as occupation and aggression exist, resistance will endure, for the martyr remains alive and a source of inspiration,” the Iranian mission said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday urged members of the terror group holding the hostages to lay down their arms, promising to let them live if they do so. He also said the war could “end tomorrow” if Hamas surrendered and freed all the hostages.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group, meanwhile, said it was launching a new phase in its war against Israel, saying it has used precision-guided missiles to target troops.
In a statement late Wednesday, Iran-backed Hezbollah announced “the transition to a new and escalatory phase in the confrontation with the Israeli enemy,” adding that precision-guided missiles “are being used for the first time.”
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
Some 60,000 Israeli residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, amid fears Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and amid increasing rocket fire by the terror group.
After a year of tit-for-tat skirmishes, Israel launched a new offensive against Hezbollah in September, devastating the group’s leadership and killing its longtime chief, Hassan Nasrallah, in Lebanon.