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DOHA: Palestinian group Hamas on Friday confirmed its leader Yahya Sinwar had been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza, a day after Israel announced his death.
“We mourn the great leader, the martyred brother, Yahya Sinwar, Abu Ibrahim,” Qatar-based Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said in a recorded video statement broadcast by Al Jazeera.
“Hamas is a liberation movement led by people looking for freedom and dignity, and this cannot be eliminated,’ Basem Naim, senior member of Hamas’s political bureau, told AFP.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sinwar’s killing “is the beginning of the day after Hamas” but the war in Gaza, where more than 42,400 Palestinians have been killed, will not end.
“I stand before you today to inform you that Yahya Sinwar has been eliminated,” he said in a statement. “Today evil has suffered a heavy blow, but the task before us is not yet complete … the war is not over yet.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Israel Katz also issued statements praising the army for the killing, which they said paved the way for a hostage deal in Gaza.
“Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF soldiers,” Israeli FM Katz said in a statement.
The United States Vice President Kamala Harris said that Israel’s killing of the Hamas chief was a chance to “finally end the war in Gaza.”
“This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza,” the US Democratic presidential candidate told reporters.
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