UPDATE - Hamas confirms death of leader Yahya Sinwar in Israeli attack

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By Anadolu staff

Palestinian resistance group Hamas confirmed on Friday the death of Yahya Sinwar, the head of the movement’s political bureau, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

In a televised statement, Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya praised Sinwar as a “hero who fought the Israeli forces until his last breath.”

"Yahya Sinwar fell as a martyr, leading the fight against the Israeli occupation forces until his final moment," Hayya said, emphasizing Sinwar’s active role on the front lines.

He also stressed that Israeli hostages “will not be released until the complete cessation of Israeli aggression in Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas, through Hayya, reiterated its “commitment to continuing its struggle until the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The Israeli army said Thursday that it had killed Sinwar in a military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Although the military did not specify the location of Sinwar's death, Israeli media reports suggested the operation took place in the southern city of Rafah.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by Hamas last October.

More than 42,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 99,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi​​​​​​​