KUALA LUMPUR: The United Nations (UN) must be granted the mandate to mediate a ceasefire in Palestine and manage the safe and orderly evacuation of any refugees on their terms, says the Parliament Special Select Committee on International Relations and Trade chairman Wong Chen.
Wong, who is also the Subang MP, said the committee condemned all atrocities brought by Israel and urged for immediate cessation of hostilities in Palestine.
"We are thankful for the re-opening of the Rafah-Gaza borders and hope that this development will encourage better regional cooperation towards peace.
"In accordance with Fourth Geneva Convention on protecting civilians during, we condemn, in particular, the action of Israel for cutting off basic supplies such as water, electricity, and gas to the people of Gaza as these action are tantamount to war crimes," he said in a press conference at the Parliament media room on Thursday (Oct 19).
Also present at the press conference were Howard Lee Chuan How (Pakatan Harapan-Ipoh Timur), Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (Perikatan Nasional-Machang), Aminolhuda Hassan (Pakatan-Sri Gading) and Datuk Suhaimi Abdullah (Perikatan-Langkawi).
When asked if there were efforts to bring Palestinian refugees to Malaysia, Wong said a discussion will be brought to the Foreign Ministry.
"We have an open standing support for Palestinians, if you go around KL, we can see there are Palestinians and some even marry locals and have children who are (Malaysian) citizens so we will continue that especially in this time of crisis.
"But the most important thing now is to get the refugees across to Egypt so they are safe.
"Thankfully, the Rafah exit is now open so I think we can send a team there to see whether we can send a team (to vet candidates for relocation) beyond humanitarian mission so we can bring some back to Malaysia," he said.
Wong added that the PSSC also acknowledged that Hamas was democratically elected by the people of Gaza, therefore had the legitimate authority in Gaza.
"We support the Malaysian government’s position and its efforts in holding dialogues with Hamas and other parties to find a peaceful resolution to this severe conflict," he said.
