The Secretary General of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, has sent a letter of congratulations to Jalil al Haya, recently appointed as the top leader of the political wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in place of Yahya Sinwar, who died during a clash with Israeli forces in the city of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, in October 2024.
"His election as head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the difficult circumstances of Israeli-American aggression that the Palestinian people are suffering, in Gaza and throughout the region, is an expression of firmness, determination, and the will to keep the flame of resistance alive," he emphasized.
Qassem has stressed that the so-called 'axis of resistance' -- the alliance made up of various actors supported by Iran, including Iraqi Shiite militias and the Houthis -- has faced and will continue to face the "war" of the United States and Israel "with firmness and sacrifice," as reported by the television network Al Manar.
On the other hand, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps congratulated Al Haya the day before on his appointment, emphasizing that the change at the head of Hamas's political bureau guarantees the "continuity" of the resistance, according to the news agency IRNA.
The appointment of Al Haya as the new political leader of Hamas comes after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in an attack carried out in July 2024 in Tehran, the capital of Iran, and the death of Sinwar in an offensive against Gaza, where he had become the key figure politically and militarily since the death of his predecessor.
Al Haya, born in 1960 in the Gaza Strip, has been part of Hamas since its creation in 1987 and held the position of 'number two' of the political wing of the group since the assassination in October 2024 of his predecessor, Salé al Aruri, in another Israeli bombing against Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
He also managed to survive an attack launched by Israel in September 2025 against a meeting of the Hamas negotiating delegation in Doha, the capital of Qatar, a meeting convened to discuss the United States' proposal regarding the future of the Strip, which included a possible ceasefire.
Al Haya, who has lost several relatives in Israeli bombings over Gaza, led this delegation, which in October 2025 accepted, like Israel, the American plan. The first phase contemplated the release of those kidnapped during the attacks of October 7, 2023, and the delivery of the bodies of the hostages who remained held in the Strip.