Hamas says Nasrallah 'assassination' will only strengthen resistance

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) - Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Saturday it mourned Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah following his killing in an Israeli airstrike, saying his death would only fuel the fight against Israel.

"Crimes and assassination by the occupation will only increase the determination and the insistence of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon to go forward with all their might, bravery and pride on the footsteps of the martyrs...and pursue the path of resistance until victory and the dismissal of the occupation," Hamas said in a statement.

His death marks a heavy blow to Hezbollah as it reels from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks. It is also a huge blow to Iran, given the major role he has played in the Tehran-backed regional "Axis of Resistance."

The 'Axis of Resistance' refers to groups including Hezbollah that are backed by Iran and have been waging attacks on Israel since war erupted between their ally Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7.

"We reaffirm our absolute solidarity and standing with the brothers in Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, who are taking part in the battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood to defend Al-Aqsa mosque, alongside our people and our resistance," Hamas added.

Islamic Jihad, another Iranian-backed Palestinian group, said in a statement: "Sooner or later, the resistance forces in Lebanon, Palestine, and the region will make the enemy pay the price of its crimes, and taste defeat for what its sinful hands have done."

Gaza has a population of 2.3 million people, most of whom have been internally displaced by the war, which has killed 41,500 of them, according to Gaza health authorities.

Israel and Hamas have been fighting since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing some 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.

Asked how Nasrallah's death would affect the fight against Israel, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: "The assassination of Hassan Nasrallah will not break the will of the resistance and we are confident that the occupation will lose the battle," said Abu Zuhri.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Tala Ramadan, Editing by William Maclean)