Palestinian resistance group Hamas confirmed on Friday the death of Yahya Sinwar, the head of the movement’s political bureau, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

In a televised statement, Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya praised Sinwar as a “hero who fought the Israeli forces until his last breath.”

He also stressed that Israeli hostages “will not be released until the complete cessation of Israeli aggression in Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas, through Hayya, reiterated its “commitment to continuing its struggle until the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The Israeli army said Thursday that it had killed Sinwar in a military operation in the Gaza Strip.