Undated picture shows Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas’ founder, who was assassinated in an Israeli strike, during a military parade in the Gaza Strip.
On the 21st anniversary of the assassination of its founder, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has reiterated its unwavering commitment to the path of resistance, emphasizing that victory against Israeli occupation and aggression is on the horizon.
In a statement marking the anniversary, Hamas hailed Sheikh Yassin as an enduring symbol of resilience and defiance, asserting that his assassination by the Zionist regime had failed to weaken the Palestinian cause. Instead, the group stressed, his legacy had continued to inspire steadfastness and resistance among Palestinians.
“The 21st anniversary of the Zionist occupation’s assassination of the founder, Sheikh, martyr Ahmad Yassin, arrives as our Palestinian people recall his legacy and journey, which became a divine school and a guiding light inspiring our people to hold onto their rights, remain steadfast in their land, practice patience, sacrifice, and resistance, and defend the [Palestinian] land and sanctities,” the statement read.
The movement vowed to uphold Yassin’s vision, declaring that the Palestinian people would continue their struggle to reclaim their legitimate rights.
“The assassination of the martyred Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and the assassination of our national leaders and figures have not and will not break the will of our people's steadfastness nor the valor of our resistance forces.”
The group was referring to the Israeli regime’s assassination and attempted murder against several senior Palestinian figures, including the ones who were martyred during Tel Aviv’s October 2023-present war of genocide against the Gaza Strip.
It condemned the Israeli regime’s policy of targeting Palestinian leaders, asserting that such actions had only fueled the determination of the resistance. “These crimes will not succeed in achieving their aggressive aims of displacing our people and erasing our cause,” Hamas underscored.
“Rather, the occupation’s crimes against our people and its assassinations of our leaders will only strengthen our determination and adherence to our rights, principles, and resistance as a strategic choice to reclaim our rights, liberate our land, and return to it.”
The group further highlighted the enduring impact of Yassin’s legacy, stating that his efforts in building a resistance movement had yielded “legendary steadfastness” across different stages of the anti-Israeli struggle.
It cited al-Aqsa Storm, a historic resistance operation during which Gaza’s resistance groups ventured deep into the occupied Palestinian territories, encircles strategic Israeli bases, and ensnared 240 Zionists, as an example of resistance fighters’ resilience, describing the operation as a defining moment in the ongoing confrontation with the Zionist entity.
The statement also recalled Yassin’s belief in the role of the broader Arab and Islamic world in defending Palestine, including the holy occupied city of al-Quds, which houses the al-Aqsa Mosque, Muslims’ third-holiest site.
“He persistently urged [Arab and Muslim] leaders and peoples to fulfill their roles and take responsibility in supporting our people, strengthening their steadfastness and resistance, and unifying all efforts to defend the land and sanctities, with al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque at the heart of this cause.”
The statement concluded with a tribute to the Palestinian martyrs, prisoners, and wounded, emphasizing that the struggle would persist until ultimate victory.
“Mercy, glory, and eternity to our martyrs, swift recovery to our wounded, and near freedom to our prisoners. Verily, it is jihad [struggle]—victory or martyrdom.”
The statement came less than a week after the Israeli regime resumed its genocidal war on Gaza that it began following al-Aqsa Storm. The fresh genocidal campaign has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in addition to the roughly 48,000 people that the brutal military onslaught had already killed.
The regime has threatened annexation of parts of the coastal sliver amid its resumption of the genocide.
Hamas, in turn, has maintained that its resistance efforts would not waver in the face of Israeli crimes and that the Palestinian cause of liberation from Israeli occupation and aggression remained alive in the hearts of the Palestinian people and their supporters worldwide.
