Yahya Sinwar talks during a rally in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 21, 2011. AP
"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.
Sinwar became Israel's most wanted man after the 7 October 2023 attack, the deadliest in Israeli history.
In his statement, Hayya said Hamas would not release the hostages it seized from Israel during the attack until the war in Gaza ends.
The captives "will not return... unless the aggression against our people in Gaza stops," the senior Hamas official said, as he called on Israel to withdraw from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Al-Hayya added the group said it would take strength from the death of Sinwar who is among "the leaders and symbols of the movement who proceded 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."
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