Hamas leader sends letters from hiding after almost a year of silence

By Abbas Al Lawati, CNN

(CNN) — Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has written a rare letter to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, according to the Lebanese militant group, in which he reaffirms his commitment to fighting Israel and supporting the Iran-backed alliance of regional militants known as the “Axis of Resistance.”

Sinwar, Hamas’ political leader who is believed to be hiding underground in Gaza, told Nasrallah that the group is committed to the path of resistance taken by his slain predecessor Ismail Haniyeh and to the “unity of the Ummah (Islamic nation), at the heart of which is the Axis of Resistance, in the face of the Zionist project.”

The letter, shared by Hezbollah’s Telegram channel, was written to show gratitude for Hezbollah’s ongoing fight against Israel, which began on October 8, just a day after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel that triggered a devastating Israeli assault on Gaza.

One of Israel’s most wanted men, Sinwar hasn’t been seen since the war. He also hadn’t been publicly heard from for almost a year – until this week. On Tuesday, he issued his first statement since the war, congratulating Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune for his election victory, according to Hamas’ Telegram channel. The next day, his office said he wrote letters thanking those who offered condolences for Haniyeh’s death. And on Friday came the letter to Nasrallah. CNN cannot verify if Sinwar is indeed the author of the letters.

“He’s trying to say I’m here, I’m alive, I’m very much in command. I’m constantly updated and aware of everything happening outside Gaza,” said Muhammad Shehada, a writer and analyst from Gaza. “He wants to show that he is able to operate on multiple fronts, the domestic front – the battlefield in Gaza – and the diplomatic front – mediations.”

The target audience for such letters, he said, is primarily Israel, to whom Sinwar is attempting to show that despite efforts to find him, he is still able to continue working without interference.

The other target, Shehada added, is Hamas, including “skeptics from inside the movement or even mediators like Qatar, the US and Egypt, who doubt that he might be able to fulfill his leadership role from the tunnels in Gaza.”

Sinwar was named political leader of Hamas after Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran in July. He is seen as more hardline than his predecessor in dealings with Israel and favors cooperation and closer ties with Iran and allied Islamist groups such as Hezbollah.

Shehada said Sinwar is “one of the strongest advocates of a stronger relationship with Hezbollah and Iran, and deepening the alliance with the Axis of Resistance.”

“He is perceived in the movement as pragmatic, but at the same time very unpredictable and impulsive. But pragmatic nonetheless,” he said.

In his letter to Nasrallah, Sinwar vowed to continue defending Islamic holy sites, particularly Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque “until the expulsion and eradication of the occupation from our land, and the establishment of our independent state with full sovereignty and its capital Jerusalem.”

The October 7 attack, he said, was “one of the most honorable battles in the history of our Palestinian people.”

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CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Eyad Kourdi contributed to this report.