Malaysian govt delegation visits Gaza Strip

A Malaysian government delegation arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday via Egypt’s Rafah border crossing to assess the humanitarian situation in the embattled Palestinian enclave.

The delegation is made up of Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, representative of the Malaysian prime minister; Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia Anwar al-Agha; and Malaysian Ambassador to Egypt Datuk Ku Jaafar Ku Shaa, delegation spokesman Mohamed Abu al-Qambaz told Anadolu Agency.

The delegation is carrying medicine, medical equipment and other assistance to the blockaded strip, he added.

A second, 70-member delegation from Malaysia’s ruling Barisan Nasional Party – bearing additional humanitarian aid – is expected to arrive in Gaza on Tuesday, the spokesman said.

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators are currently in Egyptian capital Cairo, where they have been engaged in indirect talks aimed at hammering out a permanent ceasefire arrangement.

The talks follow more than one month of devastating Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, which have left at least 2016 Palestinians dead – the vast majority of them civilians – and more than 10,000 injured.

At least 64 Israeli troops have also been killed in combat in Gaza, while three Israeli civilians were killed by rockets fired from the coastal enclave.

The Gaza Strip, home to some 1.8 million Palestinians, has reeled under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, which has badly affected the strip’s local economy and residents’ livelihoods.