KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 ― Malaysia’s wish for Palestine to be accepted as a full member of the United Nations (UN) as well as the call for a ceasefire was conveyed by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan to UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres yesterday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the call was in line with Gutteres’ statement at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Kampala, Uganda that the right of the Palestinian people to build an independent state cannot be denied.

"Peace can only be achieved and maintained if real rights are returned to those who deserve them.

"If oppression, violence, deprivation of rights, and apartheid policies are allowed to spread, there will be no safe end in life. Surely one day, those who are oppressed and denied all rights will rise up against this kind of injustice,” he said in a Facebook post today.

The prime minister also said that Malaysia reaffirmed its principled position that the Palestinians deserved their own independent and sovereign state, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Mohamad in his speech at the United Nations Security Council Open Debate On The Situation in The Middle East Including Palestinian Question today, said Malaysia demanded accountability for Israel’s clear violations of international law in Gaza.

The lack of accountability for Israel’s war crimes in Gaza undermines the legitimacy of international law, and efforts towards ending the illegal occupation of Palestine, he said. ― Bernama