KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The Taliban Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, held a telephone conversation with the head of the political wing of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, offering condolences for the loss of his family member in an Israeli strike in Gaza.
In a statement on social media, on Thursday, April 11, the Taliban foreign ministry said that Muttaqi expressed sympathy and condemned the continuation of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Muttaqi said: “The blood of the martyrs will definitely bring color, and we believe that as a result of these sacrifices, the land of Palestine will be freed from the clutches of the Zionist invaders.”
According to the Taliban statement, Muttaqi also said that the people of Afghanistan “gained independence through many sacrifices,” and he encouraged the people of Palestine to demonstrate perseverance, persistence, and patience.
Last Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of seven members of Ismail Haniyeh’s family, including three of his sons.
This attack was carried out on the Al-Shati camp near Gaza city.
Israel has been fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, after the group launched a surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. According to the latest report, the Israeli troops have so far killed over 30,000 civilians in Palestine with majority of them women and children.
While Hamas had congratulated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan after the US military withdrawal from the country in August 2021 and praised the regime for ending the “US occupation” and seizing power in the country, the Taliban leaders, including its supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, have been quiet on the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The only senior Taliban authority to comment on the conflict was Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban Interior Minister, who once condemned the Israel war in Gaza as “a crime against the people of Palestine.”
“Al-Aqsa Mosque is calling for the support of Muslims, the Jewish have been storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Gaza, not only the Muslims of Afghanistan but also other Islamic countries who have sympathy for the Palestinian people,” he said.
According to the Taliban foreign ministry, the political leader of Hamas expressed gratitude to Muttaqi for extending his condolences during the telephone conversation, referring to the people of Afghanistan as “the pioneers of the struggle for independence.”
“Mr. Ismail Haniyeh said that we are walking on their footprints hoping that our blood will also bring colour,” the Taliban foreign ministry said.
