Foreign Ministry in process of evacuating Malaysians from West Bank

KUALA LUMPUR: The Foreign Ministry is in the process of evacuating a Malaysian woman who is married to a Palestinian from the West Bank in view of the current clashes in Palestine involving Hamas, the ruling authority in Gaza, and the Israeli regime.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the woman, identified as Dr Nurul Ain Latif from Kota Bharu, Kelantan, was reported to be in a safe place.

"We are working to evacuate Dr Nurul Ain and so far, we have obtained the cooperation of the Philippine Embassy to evacuate her family, along with eight Indonesians who are in the area," he told the Dewan Rakyat during the Minister's Question Time today.

Zambry was responding to a supplementary question from Tan Hong Pin (PH-Bakri) who wanted to know the government's assistance in ensuring the safety of Malaysians, especially those in the West Bank following the current clashes in Palestine.

Apart from Dr Nurul Ain, he said, there were four other Malaysian passport holders in the West Bank, a mother and three children.

Yesterday, Wisma Putra, in a statement, confirmed five Malaysians, comprising a woman and a mother with three children, are in the West Bank and that the Malaysian Embassy in Amman is in constant contact with them.

Zambry said the Malaysian Government was very concerned with the ongoing clashes in Palestine which had claimed thousands of lives and left many injured, and of the sufferings of the Palestinians in Gaza over the action of the Zionist regime to block basic supplies of water, electricity and food.

He also expressed Malaysia's disappointment over the selective approach of the Western powers in swiftly providing support to Kiev in the Ukraine crisis, but totally ignoring the plight of the Palestinians.

This, he said, raised questions about the fairness in the enforcement of international principles and laws.

Meanwhile, Zambry said the Malaysian government will provide an initial contribution of RM1 million from the Humanitarian Trust Fund for the People of Palestine (AAKRP) to ease the burden of the Palestinians affected by the conflict

He said the aid from the Malaysian people will handed over to the Palestinian Ambassador in Malaysia Walid Abu Ali at the Parliament lobby today.

Malaysians who want to help raise funds for the Palestinian people can channel the donation through the AAKRP account which is managed by the Foreign Ministry, he added.

The recent clashes in Palestine involving Hamas, the ruling authority in Gaza, and the Israeli regime have resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives on both sides since Saturday, Oct 7.

-- BERNAMA