Malaysia Presses UN to Impose Sanctions on Israel

(MENAFN) Malaysia called on the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday to impose sanctions against Israel amid escalating violence in Gaza.

“We must take action now” and sanction Israel, Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan declared during his speech at the UN gathering in New York.

Mohamad condemned Israel’s recent attack on Doha, describing it as “not merely an attack on a few representatives of Hamas,” but “an insult to the efforts of all who have attempted to mediate” a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. He warned that this assault signals Israel's “violence will continue to destabilize the region,” and condemned the broader implications: “The metastasis of Israel's brutality in Middle East cannot go on.”

He cautioned that the impact of the conflict extends far beyond the Middle East: “The effect of this will spill over to the rest of the world,” Mohamad said. “The atrocities may have begun with Palestine, but they certainly will not end with Palestine.”

Mohamad outlined what he described as the only viable solutions to the crisis: “There are only three real answers to this conflict,” he said, emphasizing the need for “taking concrete action against the occupying force; lending long-term support to the development of a self-governing Palestinian state; and reforming the UN while ensuring that ‘such a travesty of justice never happens again.’”

Marking the 80th anniversary of the UN, Mohamad expressed deep disappointment: “Should we congratulate ourselves on our inability to bring an end to the occupation of Palestine, or should we congratulate ourselves for allowing a rogue state to undermine our charter and our efforts in Gaza? The clock is ticking. The bombs are falling and the light is fading. We have failed.”

He urged urgent reforms to secure the UN’s “survival,” including curbing, “if not abolishing,” the Security Council veto power; restoring decision-making authority to the General Assembly; and redesigning global financing structures to guarantee fairness and transparency for the Global South.

The call for reform follows the US veto of a recent UN resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

“Reform is no longer a choice. It is our imperative to be better together. We must change together. Billions of lives depend on whether we succeed,” Mohamad stressed.

Highlighting regional diplomacy, he pointed to the peace efforts led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), currently chaired by Malaysia.

Since October 2023, Israeli military operations have killed nearly 66,000 Palestinians, predominantly women and children, in Gaza. The ongoing bombardment has devastated the enclave, causing widespread starvation and disease.

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