Two-month Talks With Egypt Ensure Success Of Mercy Mission For Palestinians - Khaled

SHAH ALAM, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- The mission to bring injured Palestinians to receive medical treatment in Malaysia was finally accomplished today after two painstaking months of negotiations with the Egyptian government, according to Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

He said the negotiations which locked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Council of Egypt were to obtain permission to bring the injured Palestinians out as Israeli atrocities continue in the Gaza Strip.

He said the mercy mission was carried out based on humanitarian grounds and Malaysia’s steadfast solidarity with the Palestinian people.

According to Mohamed Khaled, the efforts were not disclosed to outside parties because he did not want to jeopardise the negotiation process.

“As a result, today we finally managed to bring to Malaysia a total of 41 patients comprising 20 men and 21 women aged between eight months and 62 years, with injuries of broken and missing limbs, severe head injuries and eye injuries.

“A total of 86 family members (of the injured) were also flown in after going through a special security and health screening,” he told a press conference after visiting the 127 Palestinians who arrived in two Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Airbus A400M aircraft at the Subang Air Base here today.

Also present were the Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia Walid Abu Ali and the Egyptian Ambassador to Malaysia Ragai Nasr.

The first aircraft landed safely at 2 pm while the second aircraft landed a few minutes later after taking off from Al Maza Air Force Base in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday night.

The Palestinians were then taken to the field hospital set up in the hangar of the air base for health screening.

Mohamed Khaled said that the injured Palestinians will be treated at the Tuanku Mizan Armed Forces Hospital (HAT) in Kuala Lumpur while the uninjured relatives will be housed in a transit location provided by the Ministry of Defence.

“Tuanku Mizan HAT (with a capacity for 280 in-patients) has prepared three wards to accommodate the injured Palestinians,” he said.

Commenting further, Mohamed Khaled said the Malaysian government made the decision to bring injured Palestinians to this country also because the risk of operating a field hospital in Palestine was too high and vulnerable to threats like bombing by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

“Therefore, it is better that we bring them here to receive medical treatment without any interference. It is also safer for them (Palestinians) and for us,” he said.

Meanwhile, Walid said that Malaysia is the first Asian country to host the injured Palestinians due to the conflict in Gaza.

“Words are not enough to say thank you Malaysia, thank you Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian Armed Forces, and the Malaysian Government. I believe Palestinians who arrived today will feel Malaysia like a second home, (and) as their ambassador, I want to thank Malaysia for what you are doing for the Palestinians,” he said.

-- BERNAMA