Meeting With Hamas Is To Create A Peaceful Solution, Says PM

TOKYO: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday reiterated his statement that his meeting with Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khalid Meshaal in Doha, Qatar last week was to persuade them to come up with a peaceful solution to the conflict in Gaza.

“I say to them, please respect the decision of your neighboring countries and try to achieve peace, exchange of prisoners and accept the two-state solution.

“Is that a mistake? Am I encouraging violence? No. I am appealing because I have an advantage, what is my advantage? I know them, they consider me a friend,” he said, Bernama reported.

He said this in response to a question about his meeting with Haniyeh and Meshaal recently in Qatar during a question and answer session during the 29th Nikkei Asia Future Forum.

He said, the situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis on an unprecedented scale.

“Let’s see it in this context. Don’t ignore differences in terms of ideology or bilateral relations with other countries.

“Can we in this period and age just accept and turn a blind eye to this extraordinary cruelty? We can continue to discuss what happened on Oct 7, but don’t erase (the cruelty) seven decades since the Nakba in 1948.

“That is why I emphasize that we seek a peaceful resolution, support the position taken by the neighboring Islamic countries and the international community, forcing both sides to accept peace and a two-state solution.

“What is important now is to stop the killing, stop shooting women and children, stop the destruction of hospitals, schools, churches, mosques,” he said.

Since the Israel-Hamas conflict peaked back in October, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, with nearly 25,000 of them women and children.

The meeting with Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and former Hamas chairman Khalid Meshaal on May 13 was Anwar’s first meeting with them as prime minister.

Anwar had met the Hamas leader twice before, in 2019 and 2020.

Wisma Putra in a statement on 14 November 2018 said Malaysia firmly adheres to the position that a two-state solution, with Palestinians and Israelis living peacefully as neighbors