SELANGOR: Forty-one Palestinian civilians who suffered various injuries in the war in Gaza were flown to Malaysia on Friday for treatment, officials said.
The Palestinians, aged between eight months and 62 years, were flown to the majority Muslim nation from the Egyptian capital Cairo onboard two Malaysian air force transport aircraft.
“We carried out this mission purely on humanitarian considerations, and to show our solidarity against what is happening to the people of Palestine,” Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin told a news conference after receiving the patients.
“It also shows our nation’s stand against this inhumane genocide.”
Nordin said the injured were selected after a “careful evaluation” to ensure they were fit for the 19-hour flight that made a stopover in Karachi, Pakistan.
The injured were accompanied by 86 family members or next of kin.
The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.
Some were freed during a one-week truce in November.
The war has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza and destroyed much of its housing and other infrastructure, leaving widespread shortages of food.
Gaza’s health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant casualties, said on Thursday that the war has killed more than 40,000 people.
41 Palestinians injured in Gaza war flown to Malaysia for treatment
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41 Palestinians injured in Gaza war flown to Malaysia for treatment
- The Palestinians, aged between eight months and 62 years, were flown to Malaysia from Cairo
- The injured were accompanied by 86 family members or next of kin
Tunisian police arrest member of parliament who mocked president
- Ahmed Saidani mocked the president in a Facebook post, describing him as the “supreme commander of sewage and rainwater drainage”
TUNIS: Tunisian police arrested lawmaker Ahmed Saidani on Wednesday, two of his colleagues said, in what appeared to be part of an escalating crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied.
Saidani has recently become known for his fierce criticism of Saied. On Tuesday, he mocked the president in a Facebook post, describing him as the “supreme commander of sewage and rainwater drainage,” blasting what he said was the absence of any achievements by Saied.
Saidani was elected as a lawmaker at the end of 2022 in a parliamentary election with very low voter turnout, following Saied’s dissolution of the previous parliament and dismissal of the government in 2021.
Saied has since ruled by decree, moves the opposition has described as a coup.
Most opposition leaders, some journalists and critics of Saied, have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.
Activists and human rights groups say Saied has cemented his one-man rule and turned Tunisia into an “open-air prison” in an effort to suppress his opponents. Saied denies being a dictator, saying he is enforcing the law and seeking to “cleanse” the country.
Once a supporter of Saied’s policies against political opponents, Saidani has become a vocal critic in recent months, accusing the president of seeking to monopolize all decision-making while avoiding responsibility, leaving others to bear the blame for problems.
Last week, Saidani also mocked the president for “taking up the hobby of taking photos with the poor and destitute,” sarcastically adding that Saied not only has solutions for Tunisia but claims to have global approaches capable of saving humanity.
Under Tunisian law, lawmakers enjoy parliamentary immunity and cannot be arrested for carrying out their duties, although detention is allowed if they are caught committing a crime.
