In a statement posted on X, the two-time prime minister said he was both lucky and proud to have met Haniyeh.

“He is an impressive man whose courage to stand up for his people obviously stemmed from a clear conscience and was guided by a moral compass based on humanity and religious conviction.

“Palestinians and the rest of the conscientious world have lost a great man, a leader and liberator.”

Mahathir, who has been very vocal in both his support for Palestine and condemnation of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, claimed that Tel Aviv sought to “eliminate” Haniyeh because they feared and hated everything he stood for.

Haniyeh was a reminder of what a “pariah state Israel is” and that those who supported the Zionist regime were the actual terrorists, he said.

Haniyeh, who played an important role in negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza, was killed hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for the Islamic republic’s new president.

Israel has since been blamed for his death, with Hamas claiming that Haniyeh had been assassinated.

Mahathir went on to say that while he was sad and angry over Haniyeh’s death, he was however optimistic that the latter’s struggle would not die and that Palestinians would not allow his death to be in vain.

“They may have killed Haniyeh but not his ideas and what he stood for.”