PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Palestine’s humanitarian crisis would impact global relations, not just in the Middle East, for many years.

“What’s happening today in Palestine will affect us all. The implications of this strife are significant and long-lasting.

“These are blatant violations of international law,” he said at a special lecture titled “Superpower Rivalry and Rising Tensions in the Asia Pacific” at the University of California in San Francisco yesterday, attended by 250 students.

Anwar said Malaysia has consistently called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“As I declared in the Malaysian parliament, there are no two ways about it. We condemn terrorism in all its forms, and we categorically condemn the act of taking innocent lives and taking women and children as hostages.

“Likewise, we unequivocally condemn the bombing of civilians, homes, and hospitals and the consequential atrocities against innocent lives – children, women, and men – being carried out day and night in Gaza with impunity,” he said.

The prime minister said Malaysia viewed the conflict in Gaza as a humanitarian crisis precipitated by a brutal and indiscriminate war.

“Ultimately, this isn’t about which God we pray to. After all, the more than 11,000 victims in Gaza comprise Muslims and Christians, as well as nationals of other countries.

“This is about preventing more deaths, more suffering, and more hate. Proponents of the Palestinian cause are neither purveyors of hate speech nor supporters of terrorism,” he said. – Bernama, November 15, 2023.