Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said on Monday the Palestinian group was prepared for prolonged fighting against Israel, in a message to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias nearly a year into the Gaza war.
"We have prepared ourselves to fight a long war of attrition that will break the enemy's political will," the Hamas leader said, according to Agence France Presse.
He asserted that the militants in Gaza and allied Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen would defeat Israel.
The message followed a rare missile attack on central Israel on Sunday claimed by the Houthis.
The attack caused no casualties but sparked vows of retaliation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sinwar said in the message addressed to Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi: "I congratulate you on your success in sending your missiles deep into the enemy entity, bypassing all layers and defense and interception systems."
The Houthis said they had "penetrated" Israel's air defenses, while Israel said the missile likely fragmented mid-air but was not destroyed.
"Our combined efforts with you" and with groups in Lebanon and Iraq "will break this enemy and inflict defeat on it," Sinwar added.
