A billboard depicting Hamas' slain leader Yahya Sinwar with the Arabic slogan "if Sinwar departs from the battlefields, Palestine will birth a thousand Sinwars", during a rally in Yemen's Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on October 18, 2024. AFP
Following are some reactions to his death:
"We mourn the great leader, the martyred brother, Yahya Sinwar, Abu Ibrahim," said Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya in a recorded video statement broadcast by Al Jazeera. Al-Hayya emphasized that the group would draw strength from Sinwar’s death, who is among "the leaders and symbols of the movement who preceded him."
"Yahya Sinwar and all the leaders and symbols of the movement who preceded him on the path of dignity and martyrdom and the project of liberation and return will only build our movement and resistance in strength," he added.
The Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah party, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expressed their condolences, calling Sinwar a “great national leader” while stressing that Israel’s “killing and terrorism will not succeed in breaking the will of our people.”
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan expressed condolences over Sinwar's death in talks on Friday with representatives of Hamas.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah also mourned the Hamas leader.
"Hezbollah offers deepest condolences to the oppressed and struggling Palestinian people, to our struggling brothers in Hamas, and our Arab and Islamic nation ... for the martyrdom of the leader of the Al-Aqsa Flood, the head of Hamas' political bureau, the struggling brother Yahya Sinwar... We affirm our support for the Palestinians," Hezbollah said in a statement.
Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Hamas would survive despite the death of its leader. “His loss is certainly painful for the resistance front” against Israel, he said, “but it will not end at all with the martyrdom of Sinwar.”
He added, “Hamas is alive and will remain alive.” Sinwar “was the shining figure of resistance and struggle,” Khamenei asserted, emphasizing that the Hamas leader’s unwavering determination against Israel “slapped them with tact and courage.”
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian mourned Sinwar in a post on Telegram, stressing that the news of his martyrdom was “painful for the world's freedom seekers, especially the heroic people of Palestine and a clear sign of the unstoppable crimes of the child-killing Zionist occupier regime.”
He added that the martyred Sinwar “struggled bravely until the last moment of his life and did not surrender."
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi also mourned Sinwar on his X account, saying: "Martyrs live forever, and the cause for the liberation of Palestine from occupation is more alive than ever." He added, "Yahya Sinwar did not fear death but sought martyrdom in Gaza. He bravely fought to the very end on the battlefield."
Religious and political figures in Iraq also mourned Sinwar’s martyrdom. The head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Sheikh Hammam Hamoudi, described Sinwar as "a remarkable model of bravery, courage, and defiance against occupation, injustice, and bloodthirsty arrogance," underscoring that the resistance against Israel’s occupation will continue to escalate.
Al-Azhar, Egypt's highest religious authority, mourned the “martyrs of the Palestinian resistance,” who have been targeted by the “criminal hand of Zionism.”
It asserted in a statement that "the Palestinian resistance are not terrorists, as the enemy falsely and deceitfully tries to portray them. Instead, they are steadfast resisters clinging to the soil of their homeland, until God granted them martyrdom while they were repelling the enemy’s plot and aggression, defending their land, their cause, and our cause.”
The Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al-Khalili also mourned Sinwar in a statement saying "We hope that someone will soon succeed him who will fill his void with the same determination and resolve."
Egypt's Bar Association also mourned Yahya Sinwar in a statement and extended "its sincere condolences to the Palestinian people and the martyr's family."
It asserted that "this crime is a serious escalation that threatens to ignite confrontation in the region, leading to dire consequences." The Bar Association "urges the international community to swiftly pursue those responsible for this heinous crime before the situation spirals out of control."
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi offered his condolences, saying Sinwar was martyred in the “field of confrontation, valour, and honour,” while spokesman Mohammad Abdelsalam offered the group’s condolences on X, saying: “My sincere condolences and great blessings to the Hamas movement and the dear Palestinian people for the great leader Yahya Sinwar receiving the medal of martyrdom, facing and not retreating, fighting for the highest and most just cause."
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq mourned Sinwar and vowed to support Hamas until the “liberation of Al-Aqsa.”
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