Humanitarian aid flotilla mission to Gaza a huge challenge - Mohamad

Mohamad hoped and prayed the aid mission is safe and that the mission takes a cautious attitude even though the Malaysian crew involved have been on the mission several times and have experience dealing with difficult situations.

"On behalf of the Foreign Ministry and also the government, we are happy and proud of the courage of Malaysians who are determined to ease the suffering experienced by the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza through food aid.

"They will sail with a flotilla and this is a huge challenge because we don't know how the Zionist regime's army will react when they (aid mission) enter Gaza waters.

"Of course they will delay or they would want the vessel to enter Israeli waters and unload the goods there," he told Bernama at the Foreign Minister's dinner with the Malaysian diaspora in Beijing last night.

Also present was the Malaysian Ambassador to China Datuk Norman Muhamad.

The sailing mission "Break The Siege: Freedom Flotilla Mission To Gaza 2024" is expected to start sailing on April 26 (Friday).

Eighteen Malaysians are at the moment joining the international civil society onboard an aid flotilla to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by sea following the dire humanitarian situation in the region.

They comprise doctors, humanitarian activists and media practitioners.

Among the Malaysian media practitioners joining the flotilla are writer and broadcast journalist from the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), Muhammad Hafizuddin Mohd Yusof, and Bernama TV's cameraman, Mohammad Nulhakim Jailan.

Activists from 30 countries including Malaysia have been gathering in Istanbul since April 18 for final preparations for the mission "Break the Siege: Freedom Flotilla Mission to Gaza 2024".

Mohamad stressed that Malaysia's position on Palestine was a matter of principle as the country was against any colonialism, illegal operations and Zionist genocide.

"We are not supporting anybody or any group but we are talking about Palestinians here. Don't get it wrong that we are supporting any group in Palestine. That is why I even advised my Cabinet colleagues to just mention that this is a crime against humanity, the genocide committed in Palestine and Israel to stop the killing.

"They cannot say that this is the act of self defence. How can you say killing a three-year old boy or girl as an act of self defence? There have been 30,000 people killed. We are monitoring the latest development in Rafah," he added.

On the same vein, Mohamad noted that the government aimed to position Malaysia as a middle state, to protect Malaysia's interest as an open economy.

He pointed out that the world was "divided into two camps" that saw the return of another cold war and this could affect Malaysia as the country was very much dependent on what was happening globally.

Mohamad said Malaysia must adopt a foreign policy that is clear to the entire international community so that they can read and evaluate Malaysia's direction and foreign relations

"We as a nation must have our own stance. What we want to do now is to position Malaysia as a middle state, so we are not leaning towards anybody and we are not favouring anybody but we know what we are doing and we want to be a friendly nation.

"That is very important. That is a strong message to Wisma Putra, to our missions in every part of the world that we have to position our country in such a way so that nobody can read our message wrongly and that we can be friendly nation," he added.

Mohamad is in Beijing for a three-day working visit from April 23 to April 5.

The working visit is his first to China. This year Malaysia and China will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Mohamad is scheduled to hold a meeting with his counterpart, Wang Yi, today to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues involving the interests of both sides.

-- BERNAMA