‘We are prepared for long war of attrition,’ Hamas leader Sinwar says while thanking Houthis for ballistic missile attack

Hamas stresses its ability to continue fighting against Israel after almost one year of war

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Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar reiterated the terror group’s readiness to continue a prolonged war against Israel while thanking the Yemeni Houthis for their ballistic missile attack on central Israel on Sunday in a public statement.

Following his election to Hamas’ overall leadership, the elusive terrorist, who had only published one statement since the start of the Gaza War last October, has now issued his third statement in the previous several days.

On Monday, Sinwar sent a message to Abd-al-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Yemeni Houthi terror organization, a rebel group being supported by the Iranian regime.

“I congratulate you on your success in sending your missiles deep into the enemy entity, bypassing all layers and defense and interception systems,” Sinwar told al-Houthi.

“We have prepared ourselves to fight a long war of attrition that will break the enemy’s political will,” Sinwar declared, adding that together with the other Iran-backed militias in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen, Hamas would defeat Israel.

The Hamas leader thanked the Yemeni rebels for their “righteous sensitivity and firm will which is visible on the ground.”

“Your high-quality action sent a message to the enemy, whose main point is that all measures to contain and neutralize your actions have failed and that the influence of the aid fronts is becoming more active and active,” Sinwar added.

On Sunday morning, a ballistic missile launched from Yemen set off alarm sirens across central Israel. The IDF said it managed to partly intercept the missile, whose fragments landed in several locations and caused slight damage.

Sinwar has stayed in intermittent contact with Hamas leadership outside of Gaza to communicate his decisions during hostage deal negotiations but has largely refrained from commenting on the war he started on Oct. 7 when the terror group invaded southern Israel.

Last Friday, he published a statement saying Hamas would continue to “stand firm” against Israel and remain loyal to the “blood of the martyrs.”

He added that the terror group would continue its resistance until the “expulsion of the occupation from our land and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Apart from a congratulatory message sent to the new Algerian president last Thursday, the only other public statement attributed to Sinwar came at the end of October when he offered to exchange all of the Israeli hostages for all of the Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon, stated in a television interview that Sinwar's next message would address both the international community and the Palestinian people.

Hamdan also emphasized Hamas’ ability to continue the fight against Israel.

“To say that the ability today is the same as it was on the first day of the war, does not make sense, because the Palestinian factions entered into a year-long campaign, during the campaign there are victims and these victims cause you to be in a different situation than on the first day of the war.”

“But at the same time, there is an accumulation of experience and there was a recruitment of new generations to the Palestinian factions,” Hamdan claimed.