DOHA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has urged that the humanitarian flotilla sailing toward Gaza be allowed safe passage, emphasising that it must not be turned back through violence or obstruction.
Delivering Malaysia’s national statement at the Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit here on Monday, Anwar said the flotilla carries not weapons of war but the promise of aid for a besieged people in Gaza.
“It is a mission of mercy, and we must do all in our power to see that it reaches its shore.
“To let it be turned back with violence is to betray the charge that our conscience has placed upon us: to defend the weak, to shelter the oppressed, to give food to the hungry,” the Prime Minister said.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) is currently crossing the Mediterranean Sea, carrying food, medicine, and messages of peace toward the shores of Gaza.
The mission, comprising more than 50 boats with volunteers from 44 countries, is aimed at delivering humanitarian supplies of food and medicine to the besieged enclave.
Anwar is the patron of Sumud Nusantara, one of the groups participating in the mission that gathers boats and volunteers from across the world.
Representing Malaysia in the flotilla are Cinta Gaza Malaysia (CGM) Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Nadir Al-Nuri Kamaruzaman, singer Zizi Kirana and actress Ardell Aryana.
On Sept 10, the main ship Family was struck by a drone while docked in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, followed by an attack on the boat Alma on Tuesday night.
No casualties were reported in the attacks.
On Saturday, an Anadolu correspondent reported that an initial convoy of GSF vessels had departed Bizerte Port in Tunisia en route to the Gaza Strip. – Bernama
