KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to convene an emergency session to de-escalate the ongoing clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters in and around the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry also called on the council to uphold its charter-mandated responsibility to uphold international peace and security.
“The council should urgently convene an emergency session to demand all parties stop the violence, as well as respect and protect the lives of innocent civilians.”
The ministry said that loss of life, suffering, and destruction, should stop during such a critical time, while parties there must also exercise utmost restraint and de-escalate the conflict.
“The Palestinians have been subjected to the prolonged illegal occupation, blockade and sufferings, the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as the politics of dispossession at the hands of Israel as the occupier,” it said.
“The inconsistency to act on the Israeli regime calls into question the uniform enforcement of international principles, and highlights the need for a more consistent stance in addressing an apartheid administration.
“There should be no disproportionate treatment and flagrant hypocrisy in dealing with any regime that practises apartheid and blatantly violates human rights and international law.”
The ministry insisted that Palestinians have the legal right to inhabit a state of peace within their own internationally recognised borders – prior to the 1967 exodus – with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Palestinians also have the “inalienable right” to return to their homes and property, from which they were displaced, it added.
Earlier today, four Muslim NGOs urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene an emergency meeting, aimed to issue a solidarity note to the freedom fighters of Palestine.
Last month, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said that condemning Israel is insufficient to resolve the issue in Palestine.
He stressed that the OIC family must intercede in Israel’s “atrocities”, while the committee must continuously and systematically exert pressure on Israel for their ruthless acts of discrimination. – October 8, 2023