Malaysia Continues To Strongly Condemn Settlement Activities By Israel

Malaysia continues to strongly condemn the ongoing settlement activities by Israel against the Palestinians which the General Assembly, Human Rights Council, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice and the Security Council have declared illegal.

Malaysia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York Datuk Saiful Azam Martinus Abdullah said, there was sincere belief that the settlements should be outlawed.

"We should not fool ourselves into believing that Israeli settlers are innocently exploring untaken plots of land and untapped resources, seeking a brighter and more virtous future," he said in his statement at the open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question at the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

He urged the international community not to hesitate now to condemn and take action on incidents of settler violence and other illegal acts before the consequences worsened.

Saiful Azam said the illegal blockade in Gaza remained in place, despite the urgent need to resolve the serious humanitarian situation there, especially with regard to food security of the population.

He said Malaysia was extremely concerned that a number of detainees had died in prison, which many Palestinians fear was due to torture by their Israeli captors.

In the meantime, Saiful Azam said Malaysia liked to underline its concerns on the situation in Syria.