By Rohani Mohd Ibrahim
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and New Zealand today expressed grave concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, according to a joint statement published in Beehive.govt.nz, the official website of the New Zealand government.
The statement said both the country’s leaders – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon – said a rapid, massive, unimpeded, and sustained flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza is desperately needed.
“The Leaders also urged for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. This is an obligation under international humanitarian law,” said the statement.
According to the statement issued in conjunction with Luxon's official three-day visit to Malaysia beginning Sunday (Aug 1), neither Malaysia nor New Zealand wants to see conflict spill over into the region.
Recent regional escalation of hostilities only makes a ceasefire in Gaza more urgent, it said.
The Prime Ministers urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and de-escalate tensions, it added.
Meanwhile, at a joint press conference with Anwar here today, Luxon said “countries may have differences around Hamas, but what both countries are very united on is that we need to see an immediate ceasefire in that region.”
According to Luxon, Malaysia and New Zealand are both very conscious of the rise of violent extremism and also want to maintain social cohesion in what are increasingly multicultural societies, and those are “things that we will continue to work hard at here.”
“There's 195 countries in the world who don't agree on everything … we don’t agree on eveything with each other either and that's quite normal but I can tell you that we have no closer friend in Asia than Malaysia. It’s a long-standing relation that goes back many, many decades.
“And what we are determined to do is to continue to find a common ground to work and progress the things that we can do together...we both are very united in calling for immediate cease fire, getting the parties around the negotiating table and ultimately finding a two-state solution,” he said at length.
Meanwhile, Anwar said he acknowledged and expressed his appreciation on the latest statement issued by New Zealand, together with other partners, on the need to immediately implement the ceasefire and find amicable peaceful resolution.
Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA) on Sunday reported that local health authorities confirmed that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli onslaught since Oct 7 has risen to 40,738 reported fatalities, with an additional 94,154 individuals sustaining injuries.
The majority of the victims are women and children, said the report.
-- BERNAMA
