ASEAN Summit: Malaysia calls on international community to condemn and reject Israeli annexation plan

In making the call during the 36th ASEAN Summit, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that the international community must also ensure that the plan will never be implemented.

He said Malaysia is deeply concerned over the fate of the Palestinians amid the continued volatility in the Middle East.

"Malaysia strongly condemns and rejects Israel's recent announcement to implement its plan to annex parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory in the West Bank," he said at the Summit, held virtually and hosted by ASEAN 2020 Chair, Vietnam. Muhyiddin joined the Summit from Putrajaya.

The Prime Minister said Kuala Lumpur will continue to stand in strong solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Muhyiddin said the planned annexation further diminishes the prospect of a two-state solution, which is supported by the international community.

"The illegal and unilateral action by Israel clearly calls into question its sincerity towards a peaceful and lasting solution to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

Malaysia has long championed the two-state solution, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

Israel's unity government, formed between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival Benny Gantz in May, inked an agreement that will allow Israel to initiate legislation to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank starting July 1.

West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War. It is estimated that about 700,000 Israeli illegal settlers are in the occupied territory.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at a virtual meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday, has called on Israel to scrap its plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.