Hamas vows to 'keep fighting' against Israel, as Sinwar's deputy acknowledges his death

Hamas has finally confirmed and acknowledged the death of its chief Yahya Sinwar and pledged to continue with its fight against Israel as the war in Gaza continues to escalate. Khalil al-Hayya, Sinwar’s deputy, released a statement in which he maintained that the slain leader’s conditions for a ceasefire in the ongoing war will not be compromised.

“We are continuing Hamas’s path,” the deputy said on Friday. It is pertinent to note that Hayya himself is living in exile in Qatar as the Palestinian militant group looks for Sinwar’s successor. Some of the conditions pushed by Sinwar included the cessation of Israeli military operations in Gaza, the complete withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from the occupied coastal strip, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

In the Friday statement, Hayya insisted that Hamas would emerge stronger than ever despite the death of its leader. The proclamation came as many experts predicted that Sinwar’s death came as a major blow to the militant group.

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While sharing the future plans, Hayya warned the hostages “will not return … unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops”. In the past, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed no interest in accepting the conditions laid out by Hamas while Sinwar was alive.

The Israeli prime minister instead emphasised how far the fugitive leader’s killing weakened his organisation, calling it an “important landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamas,” calling it the “beginning of the end”.

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Interestingly, the remarks from Hayya came just hours after US President Joe Biden said that Sinwar’s death “represents a moment of justice”. The POTUS insisted that the Hamas leader “had the blood of Americans and Israelis, Palestinians and Germans and so many others on his hands”. On Thursday, Biden also appealed to Netanyahu to make Sinwar’s demise “an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas”.

The sentiments expressed by Biden were also echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. While Netanyahu has been facing major international pressure during the year-long Gaza war, Israel has continued to remain aggressive in its approach, killing the top brass of both Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

With inputs from agencies.