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The killing of Hamas leader Yehya al-Sinwar by Israeli forces on Wednesday will not stop the struggle against Israel, according to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n
“His death is painful, but the axis of resistance [against Israel] will live on and continue the fight,” Khamenei was quoted as saying on his official website on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Al-Sinwar was a colourful personality of the resistance, “who has now ascended to the heaven of martyrs,” Khamenei said.<\/p>\n
The slain Hamas leader is considered the mastermind behind the massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, which left around 1,200 people dead and triggered the current Gaza war.<\/p>\n
After his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh and the head of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, Hassan Nasrallah, al-Sinwar was the third Islamist leader to be killed in just a few months.<\/p>\n
Israel’s military killed al-Sinwar in the Gaza Strip and Nasrallah in Lebanon, while Haniyeh’s death in the Iranian capital Tehran was also attributed to Israel.<\/p>\n
Experts see the targeted killings as a bitter setback for Iran, which is closely allied with both Islamist groups.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n