Malaysia condemns Israeli attack on Rafah, calls it 'blatant criminal acts'

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Malaysia on Wednesday strongly condemned the Israeli army's bombing of the Rafah municipality building, urging the international community to step up efforts to put pressure on the Israeli regime to cease its "blatant criminal acts."

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning Israel's latest attacks on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 6, which killed 19 people.

"The attacks, which came just hours after Hamas’s acceptance of a cease-fire proposal from the peace negotiations brokered by Egypt and Qatar, only demonstrate Israel’s intransigence and unwillingness to work for peace," it said.

"The Israeli regime is bent on pursuing genocide and a war of extermination against the besieged Palestinians. As such, Israel deserves the strongest condemnation from the international community," said the ministry.

It added that Israeli forces' ongoing attacks on civilians in Rafah are "unequivocally abhorrent and reprehensible, particularly as innocent children, women, and the most vulnerable are sheltering in densely populated camps."

The Israeli army on Tuesday began its invasion of the eastern area of Rafah, storming and occupying the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, closing Gaza's only gateway to the outside world.

On Monday, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah, widely interpreted as a prelude to Israel's long-feared attack on the city, which is home to approximately 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people. Nearly 34,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,100 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid