Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and EU, "will remain alive" despite the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.
Khamenei said in a statement on October 19 that Sinwar's "loss is undoubtedly painful for the Axis of Resistance," referring to a self-described network of several Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, including Hamas.
SEE ALSO: As Middle East Crisis Escalates, Hopes For Diplomatic Solution Dim"But this front did not cease advancing with the martyrdom of prominent figures," Khamenei added.
Sinwar -- the architect of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza -- was killed by Israeli forces on October 16. His death was confirmed by a top Hamas political official the following day.
The situation remains tense in Gaza, where at least 21 people including children were killed in Israeli air strikes on October 19, Palestinian health officials said.
At least 10 of them were killed in central Gaza when a house was hit in the town of Zawayda, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken.
Another attack killed 11 people, all from the same family, in the Maghazi refugee camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
The Israeli government said that a drone was launched toward the house of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coastal town of Caesarea on October 19, with no casualties. Neither Netanyahu nor his wife were home, his office said in a statement.
The drone strike came in the morning as sirens wailed in Israel, warning of incoming fire from Lebanon.
In Lebanon, authorities said two people were killed in an Israeli strike on October 19 in Jounieh, north of Beirut.
Jounieh, a Christian-majority town, had not been hit since Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah started exchanging cross-border fire over the Gaza war last year.
SEE ALSO: Lebanon's Armenians Face Painful Choice: Stay And Risk Death Or FleeIsrael intensified its bombardment of Lebanon on September 23 and later in the month sent ground troops across the Lebanese border.
The strikes have reached areas outside of traditional strongholds of Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its political party.
Hezbollah's political wing has seats in the Lebanese parliament and the militants control the southern part of the country that borders Israel.