KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has agreed to increase financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) following the actions of several major countries to stop their contributions, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who shared the matter in his conversation with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi yesterday, said, besides the annual aid, Malaysia had also recently contributed an additional US$2.1mil (RM10mil) to UNRWA in addition to US$250,000 to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society and US$500,000 to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Anwar had called Abdel Fattah yesterday to congratulate him on winning the Egypt election.
"Yesterday evening I was able to get in touch with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. In that phone conversation, I congratulated him on his victory in the Egypt elections.
"I also convey my appreciation to President Sisi and the Egyptian government for their important role in helping facilitate the delivery of 100 tons of humanitarian aid worth US$1.2mil from Malaysia to the Palestinians in Gaza.
"We also express our continued commitment to help our brothers in Palestine," said Anwar in a post on Facebook today.
According to Anwar, several members of the Malaysian Parliament from the government and opposition bloc are on their way to Rafah to express their support for Egypt and help with the delivery of humanitarian aid from Malaysia to Gaza.
"Alhamdulillah, President Sisi and the Egyptian Government have helped our representatives and all Malaysian Members of Parliament have been permitted to visit the Rafah border," he said.
During his conversation with Abdel Fattah, Anwar said both of them expressed their commitment to continue strengthening Malaysia-Egypt bilateral relations not only regarding the Palestinian issue, but also on trade and economic issues to bring the ties to a higher level.
"I also invited President Sisi to visit Malaysia," he said. - Bernama
