Vice President Ma’ruf Amin said the fallen political bureau leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was a Palestinian freedom fighter.
“I express my condolences on the passing of Ismail Haniyeh, the supreme leader of Hamas, as a freedom fighter. I see him as a freedom fighter who fought for Palestinian freedom under Israeli occupation,” the vice president remarked.
Amin made the statement aboard the Whoosh Fast Train at Tegalluar Station in Bandung District, West Java, on Thursday after attending an event in the province’s Sumedang District.
“Of course, for us, Indonesia has also lost a freedom fighter. Therefore, we share in expressing our condolences,” Amin noted.
The vice president also condemned Israel’s actions in killing Haniyeh during the Hamas leader’s visit to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Iranian president.
“We deeply regret it. In addition to the genocide of its people, Israel also assassinated their leader at the inauguration ceremony of the President of Iran. This is very unethical,” Amin pointed out.
He feared that the incident would spark new tensions and disrupt peace efforts.
“Do not let it disrupt peace efforts, which have begun to get real. With this murder, the negotiation plans could go back to square one. This issue arose in the middle of the negotiation efforts. This could trigger greater tensions in the Middle East,” he emphasized.
The Hamas group earlier confirmed that Ismail Haniyeh died early Wednesday morning (July 31) from an Israeli attack on his residence in Tehran.
“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas expresses its condolences on the death of the descendant of a great Palestinian Nation, Ismail Haniyeh,” as quoted from Hamas’ Telegram.
According to the organization, Haniyeh was in Tehran on Tuesday (July 30) to attend Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration as the new Iranian president.
Haniyeh’s killing immediately drew widespread condemnation from the international community. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing and described Israel’s action as cowardly and dangerous.