Jakarta. Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla expressed his deepest condolences on the passing of Ismail Haniyeh, the Chairman of the Political Bureau of Hamas, on Wednesday.

Hamas said Haniyeh was killed "in a Zionist airstrike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian the previous day.

"Innalillahi wainnailaihi raji'un. I extend my condolences on the passing of the late Ismail Haniyeh today," said Jusuf Kalla at his residence.

Kalla remembered the late Haniyeh as a Palestinian fighter in Gaza. "He had strong leadership in Palestine and Tehran," added Kalla.

Kalla also shared that their first meeting took place in Doha last month. According to Kalla, Haniyeh showed a great desire for peace and a fair resolution in Palestine. During their two-hour meeting, Jusuf Kalla explained how the world's attention is currently focused on Gaza, prompting all parties to help the residents directly affected by the Israel-Hamas war. Kalla also highlighted the difficulty of distributing aid to Gaza due to the Israeli blockade.

In that meeting, Haniyeh expressed his wish to unite with Al-Fatah in Beijing and hoped to visit Indonesia with Al-Fatah after their time in the Chinese capital.

"However, today Allah has called him. We hope his dream of peace in Palestine can be achieved despite the severe conflict there. We pray that his soul is accepted by Allah SWT and that peace can be achieved in Palestine," said Kalla.

Furthermore, Kalla hoped that Haniyeh's passing would not worsen the situation in Palestine.

Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and had lived in exile in Qatar. The top Hamas leader in Gaza is Yehya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack.

In April, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three of Haniyeh's sons and four of his grandchildren.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian's swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, along with other Hamas officials and officials from Hezbollah and allied groups. Iran gave no details on how Haniyeh was killed, and the Guard said the attack was under investigation.