TEHRAN-  A senior Iraqi Shia cleric and political leader has denounced the Israeli killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a “criminal act”.

“This criminal act committed by the Zionist regime is too weak to undermine the unity of the Palestinian people or hinder their pursuit of victory for their just cause,” Seyyed Ammar Hakim, leader of Iraq's National Wisdom Movement, said in a statement as he offered condolences over Sinwar’s martyrdom.

He expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and the resistance movements as they mourn the loss of the “esteemed martyr Yahya Sinwar at the sinful hands of the Zionist regime”.

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that its forces killed Sinwar in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah.

Hamas confirmed on Friday that Sinwar was martyred in combat with Israeli forces in Gaza, adding that he died defending Palestine until the last moments of his life.