Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has rejected Western pressure to condemn Hamas, saying his government will continue to maintain relations with the Palestinian Resistance group.
Anwar said that Western officials have repeatedly asked Malaysia to condemn Hamas in meetings but his government “does not agree” with their attitude, Al-Jazeera reported.
“I said that we, as a policy, have a relationship with Hamas from before, and this will continue,” Anwar said on Monday in remarks to parliament.
“As such, we don’t agree with their pressuring attitude, as Hamas, too, won in Gaza freely through elections, and Gazans chose them to lead.”
Western governments have condemned Hamas and called on other countries to stand with Israel after Hamas earlier this month carried out the most successful operation dubbed Al-Aqsa Storm in decades.
More than 1,400 Israeli soldiers and settlers were killed when Hamas launched the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation by attacking southern occupied territories via air, land and sea on October 7, according to Israeli regime officials.
Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 2,750 people and wounded nearly 10,000 others, according to Palestinian officials. Another 1,000 people are believed to be trapped under rubble in the besieged enclave.
Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the population is Muslim, is a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights and does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
MNA/PR