KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan held several bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sideline of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Open Debate in New York, Tuesday.

According to Wisma Putra Facebook postings, Mohamad held bilateral meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine Riad Malki and Algeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad Ahmad Attaf.

Mohamad also met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

In a posting on his Facebook page, Mohamad mentioned that during those meetings, he discussed the need to strengthen bilateral relations with his counterparts.

He stated that in the meeting with Malki, he also conveyed the empathy of the Malaysian people towards the plight affecting the Palestinians.

"Also sharing on the effort to send special postcard to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres, signed by the Prime Minister and all Cabinet members, to voice support for Palestine’s acceptance as a full member of the United Nations,” he said.

Earlier, Mohamad took part in UNSC’s Open Debate On The Situation in The Middle East Including Palestinian Question and expressed Malaysia’s stance in demanding accountability for Israel’s clear violations of international law in Gaza.

He said 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. — Bernama