Hezbollah congratulates Sinwar as new Hamas political chief

Hamas ally Hezbollah on Tuesday congratulated Yahya Sinwar on his selection as the Palestinian militant group’s new political chief following the killing last week of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh.

Sinwar’s appointment affirms that “the enemy… has failed to achieve its objectives” by killing Hamas leaders and officials, a Hezbollah statement said.

It is also “a strong message” to Israel, the United States and allies that “the Hamas movement is united in its decision, solid in its principles, firm in its important choices, and determined” to continue on the path of resistance, the statement added.

Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israel since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

The heavily armed Lebanese movement says it is acting in support of Gazans and Hamas with its attacks, and that only a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory will put an end to its cross-border fire.

Hezbollah is the most prominent member of the “axis of resistance” of Iran-backed regional armed groups opposed to Israel and the United States. The grouping also includes Hamas, Iraqi movements and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

“The axis of resistance is waging a heroic and historic battle on a number of fronts at a sensitive time on the regional level as part of support and assistance to the oppressed Palestinian people,” the Hezbollah statement said.

Sinwar’s selection “at this important time” increases “the determination to unify efforts and insist on continuing jihad and resistance,” the statement said.

His appointment comes less than a week after Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, with Iran and Hamas blaming Israel, which has declined to comment.

His death has sent tensions skyrocketing, with fears of a regional war and the Middle East bracing for Iran’s retaliation.

The Israeli military and officials accuse Sinwar of being one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack on Israel, making him one of Israel’s most wanted militants.