ANKARA 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reaffirmed on Saturday commitment to support Palestinian resistance in the wake of the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas political bureau.

In a statement on X, Khamenei said “the loss of Yahya Sinwar is painful for the Resistance Front.”

But, he added, the “front didn’t halt its progress in wake of the martyrdoms of eminent figures … Similarly, it won’t falter with Sinwar’s martyrdom either.”

He said Hamas “is alive and will stay alive” and also condoled with the family and "comrades" of Sinwar, who was killed in an Israeli military operation in southern Gaza earlier this week.

“As always, we will stand by the sincere Palestinian mujahideen and fighters,” Khamenei said.

Israel has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza since a cross-border incursion by Hamas last October that claimed around 1,200 lives and 250 others were taken as hostages.

Hamas after the killing of Sinwar, who took charge after the July 31 assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, said Israeli captives will not be released unless the military campaign stops, Israeli forces withdraw and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel are freed.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi