Israel-Hamas war: Malaysia, Indonesia urge immediate Gaza ceasefire after hospital blast

Malaysia’s PM Anwar Ibrahim calls the blast that has killed hundreds ‘madness’ and slams double Western standards over the Israeli violence

Indonesia urges the international community to help stop the attacks against the Palestinians in Gaza

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A mother comforts her injured child at Nasser Hospital on Wednesday after air strikes at Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: dpa

Published: 7:56pm, 18 Oct 2023

Southeast Asia’s two major Muslim-majority nations have stepped up their calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas following Tuesday’s blast in a Gaza City hospital that killed hundreds of people.

Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, and Israel have traded accusations over the explosion, and much of the Muslim world have laid blame for the incident on Israel.

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after arriving in Tel Aviv on Wednesday that the “other team, not you” appeared to be responsible for the blast.

Speaking to local media hours after the incident, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim described the carnage as “madness” and doubled down on his recent criticism of what he says has been double standards by the West when it comes to acts of violence perpetrated by Israel.

“If this continues to persist, the victims will be mothers, children and patients, and this has reached a level of madness and without humanity,” Anwar was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper on the sidelines of an unrelated event on Wednesday.

“That is why we are calling for an immediate ceasefire to calm the situation down,” the Malaysian leader said.

Abdul Hadi Awang, a Muslim cleric and leader of Malaysia’s influential opposition PAS party, in a statement blamed Tuesday’s blast on “Israel’s Zionist regime”, adding that “the world’s leaders and people must rise in the spirit of jihad to defend Palestine”.