Iran's supreme leader: Hamas will survive, despite the death of its leader

2024-10-19 20:15:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Hamas - which is designated a terrorist organization by the US and the EU - will "remain alive", even though its leader Yahya Sinwar was killed days ago.

Khamenei said in a statement on Saturday that "the loss of Sinwar is undoubtedly painful for the Axis of Resistance," referring to the network of several Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East, including Hamas.

"But this front will not stop advancing with important figures of martyrdom", he added.

Sinwar, named as the architect of the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, was killed in southern Gaza by an Israeli strike on October 16.

His death was confirmed a day later by a senior Hamas political official.

The situation in Gaza remains dire, with 21 people, including children, killed by Israeli shelling on Saturday, Palestinian health officials said.

At least 10 of them were killed in central Gaza when a house was hit in the town of Zawayda, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where the victims were taken.

Another attack killed 11 people, all from the same family, in the Maghazi refugee camp, according to Al-Aqsa Hospitals in Deir al-Balah.

The Israeli government said a drone was launched at the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coastal city of Caesarea on Saturday morning. His office said in a statement that neither Netanyahu nor his wife were home at the time. No casualties were reported.

The drone strike happened in the morning as sirens sounded in Israel, warning of future attacks from Lebanon.

In Lebanon, authorities said two people were killed in an Israeli attack in Jounieh, north of Beirut on Saturday. Jounieh, a Christian-majority town, had not previously been hit in an exchange of attacks between Israel and Hezbollah over the past year, following the start of the war in Gaza last year.

Israel intensified its bombing of Lebanon on September 23 and later that month sent ground troops into Lebanon.

The Israeli military is now carrying out attacks outside the traditional strongholds of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group.

Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union has blacklisted its armed wing, but not its political party.