The Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama Response to the Death of the Hamas Leader

TIMESINDONESIA, JAKARTA – The Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU), KH Yahya Chalil Staquf, expressed his condolences over the death of Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, at his residence in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday (July 31, 2024) local time.

"On behalf of the General Chairman of PBNU, I extend my deepest condolences on the death of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh," he said at the PBNU office, Jakarta, Thursday (August 1, 2024).

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The PBNU Chairman's statement was purely based on humanitarian values and independent of any political stance.

On this occasion, Gus Yahya – as he is familiarly called – also called for support for Palestine. "We continue to recognize the Palestinian Authority as the official representative of the Palestinian people, call for an end to violence, and support the Palestinian people on humanitarian grounds, regardless of any political orientation," he explained.

Hamas suspects that Haniyeh's death was caused by an attack by Israeli agents at his residence in Tehran. The assassination of Haniyeh occurred after Israel, on Tuesday, carried out an air strike in Beirut, Lebanon, which allegedly killed a high-ranking Hezbollah commander.

"The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns the passing of the great Palestinian people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and all the free people of the world: brother, leader, martyr, Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, leader of this movement, who was killed in a Zionist attack on his residence in Tehran," said Hamas, quoted by AlJazeera, Wednesday (July 31, 2024).

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned the assassination of Hamas Leader and Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh. He described Haniyeh's assassination as cowardly and dangerous. "The President calls on the Palestinian people to unite, be patient, and be resilient in facing the Israeli occupation," WAFA reported.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Hussein al-Sheikh firmly condemned the assassination of Hamas leader and political bureau Ismail Haniyeh. "We strongly condemn and denounce the assassination of the head of the Political Bureau, national leader, Ismail Haniyeh," he said.

"We consider it a cowardly act, and it encourages us to remain steadfast in confronting the occupation and emphasizes the need to achieve unity among Palestinian forces and factions," he added.

The day before, it was reported that Haniyeh had met with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. (*)

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