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lebanese militant group hezbollah said on friday that hamas leader yahya sinwar had written a letter to hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah in which he reiterated his determination to fight israel and support the "resistance axis" alliance, after "disappearing for nearly a year."

▲sinwal continued to speak out this week (data map)

hezbollah shared the letter on its social media accounts. sinwar, who is believed to still be in command of the gaza underground, reportedly told nasrallah that hamas would follow the path of resistance taken by his slain predecessor, ismail haniyeh.

in his letter to nasrallah, sinwar vowed to continue defending jerusalem "until the occupiers are driven out and eliminated from our land and our independent state with full sovereignty is established, with jerusalem as its capital".

sinwar, one of israel's most wanted men, has been missing since a new round of conflict broke out last year and has not been seen in public for nearly a year - until this week.

on tuesday, sinwar issued his first statement since october 7, congratulating algerian president abdelmadjid tebboune on his election victory, according to hamas's social media account. the next day, his office said he wrote to thank those who expressed condolences for haniyeh's death. subsequently, his letter to nasrallah was released on friday.

mohammed shehada, a gaza writer and current affairs analyst, said that in his letter to nasrallah, sinwar's message was: "i am still alive and i am in full control of the situation. i am constantly updated with information about what is happening outside gaza." shehada said (sinwar) wanted to show that he was able to take action on multiple fronts.

shehada analyzed that sinwar's letter was mainly aimed at israel, and he was trying to show the israeli side that he was still able to work without interference despite their attempts to find him.

shehada added that another target audience is hamas, including "skeptics within the organization and even mediators such as qatar, the united states and egypt, because they have been skeptical about whether he can fulfill his leadership role in the gaza tunnels."

sinwar was appointed as hamas' political leader after haniyeh was assassinated in tehran, iran in july. compared with his predecessor, sinwar has a tougher stance in dealing with israel and prefers to cooperate with allies such as hezbollah and build closer relations.

red star news reporter fan xu

editor yang ran responsible editor feng lingling