Live updates: Hamas confirms Sinwar’s death as Israel considers next steps in Gaza

Pro-Iranian groups across the Middle East on Friday condemned and mourned the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in a gun battle with Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. They promised retaliation against Israel, which has celebrated the elimination of its main target since the October 7 attacks last year.

On Friday, Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, said in a televised address that Sinwar “met his end with courage and his head held high.” Al-Hayya added that Sinwar’s death “will only increase the strength and resilience of our movement.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mourned Sinwar’s death on the X platform on Friday. “His fate,” he wrote, “is not a deterrent but a source of inspiration for resistance fighters throughout the region, Palestinian and non-Palestinian.”

Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam also expressed his condolences to X. He described Sinwar as a “heroic epic in the fight against the criminal Israeli entity.”

Gulf Arab leaders have not commented on Sinwar’s death. The late Hamas leader had accused Arab governments, particularly the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, of “betraying” the Palestinian cause by seeking normalization with Israel.