Hamas vowed Friday not to release the hostages seized during its October 7 attack on Israel until the Gaza war ends, as it mourned the death of its leader Yahya Sinwar.

The killing of Sinwar, the mastermind of the deadliest attack in Israeli history, had raised hopes of a turning point in the war, including for families of the Israeli hostages and Gazans enduring a dire humanitarian crisis.
But Qatar-based Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, who mourned Sinwar in a video statement, reiterated the Palestinian groupās position that no hostages would be released āunless the aggression against our people in Gaza stopsā.
Israeli forces pummelled Gaza over the course of the day, with a strike near Jabalia on Friday night causing ā33 deaths and dozens of woundedā, according to Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
Earlier in the day, rescuers recovered the bodies of three Palestinian children from the rubble of their home, also in the north of the territory, the agency said.
āWe always thought that when this moment arrived, the war would end and our lives would return to normal,ā Jemaa Abou Mendi, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, told AFP, referring to Sinwarās death.
āBut unfortunately, the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. The war has not stopped, and the killings continue unabated.ā
Sinwar was Israelās most wanted man, and his death ā announced by the Israeli military on Thursday ā deals a major blow to the already weakened group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sinwarās killing an āimportant landmark in the decline of the evil rule of Hamasā.
While it did not spell the end of the war, it was āthe beginning of the endā, he added.
ā āOpportunityā ā
Some hailed the news of Sinwarās death as a sign of better things to come.
US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israelās top arms provider, said Sinwarās death was āan opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamasā.
In a joint statement, Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain emphasised āthe immediate necessity to bring the hostages home to their families, for ending the war in Gaza, and ensure humanitarian aid reaches civiliansā.
Former US president Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term in elections next month, said Sinwarās death would make it āeasierā to achieve peace.
Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged Israelās government and international mediators to leverage āthis major achievement to secure hostagesā returnā.
In August, Netanyahu called Sinwar āthe only obstacle to a hostage dealā.
Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of killed hostage Yoram Metzger, said with Sinwar dead it was āunacceptableā that the hostages would āstay in captivity even one more dayā.
But she added: āWe (are) afraid that Netanyahu does not intend on stopping the war, nor does he intend to bring the hostages back.ā
An Israeli autopsy found that Sinwar was initially wounded in the arm by shrapnel, but killed by a gunshot to the head, the New York Times reported.
The Times said it was unclear who fired the shot or when, or what weapon was used.
Turkey ā whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was close with Hamasās political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran in July ā offered its ācondolencesā after Sinwarās death.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, meeting with top Hamas officials in Istanbul, also discussed ārecent negotiations for a ceasefire deal allowing the exchange of hostages and prisonersā, his ministry said.
ā āHell on Earthā ā
Hamas sparked the war in Gaza by staging the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
During the attack, militants took 251 hostages back into Gaza. Ninety-seven remain there, including 34 who Israeli officials say are dead.
Israelās campaign to crush Hamas and bring back the hostages has killed 42,500 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers reliable.
A āconservativeā estimate puts the death toll among children in Gaza at over 14,100, said James Elder, spokesman for the United Nations childrenās agency UNICEF.
For the one million children in the besieged territory, āGaza is the real-world embodiment of hell on Earthā, Elder said.
Criticism has been mounting over the civilian toll and lack of food and aid reaching Gaza, where the UN has warned of famine.
ā āDevastationā in Lebanon ā
Israel is also fighting a war with Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon. The two sides had exchanged rocket fire since the October 7 attack, with Israel sending ground troops across the Lebanese border last month.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it had destroyed Hezbollahās regional command centre with an air strike.
Hezbollah said it fired a salvo of rockets at the Israeli city of Haifa and areas to its north.
The group later said it launched āa swarm of explosives-laden dronesā at an āair missile defence baseā east of the central Israeli city of Hadera.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon warned that the escalating war was ācausing widespread destruction of towns and villagesā in the countryās south.
Since late September, the war has left at least 1,418 people dead in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.
The war has also drawn in other Iran-aligned armed groups, including in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
The Israeli military on Friday said it had intercepted an āaerial targetā approaching from Syria, which a war monitor said was a drone launched by an Iran-backed group.
The army reported another drone crossing into Israeli territory from Syria early Saturday, saying it had fallen without causing injuries.
Iran conducted a missile strike on Israel on October 1, for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.
Iran, Hezbollah, Afghanistanās Taliban government and Yemenās Huthi rebels all mourned the death of Sinwar, vowing continued support for their Palestinian ally Hamas.