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Malaysia and the Maldives issued separate but pointed condemnations Monday against Israeli actions on two fronts, targeting the obstruction of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon and the approval of dozens of new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Malaysia's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned a series of incidents involving the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, following reports that an Israeli tank rammed UNIFIL vehicles in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
Kuala Lumpur called on all parties to fully respect the safety, security and freedom of movement of UN peacekeepers, and demanded maximum restraint and full cooperation with the force's mandate. "Any actions that jeopardize the safety of peacekeepers or hinder their operational effectiveness are unacceptable and must cease immediately," the ministry said.
UNIFIL, established in 1978, operates along the Lebanon-Israel border and has a mandate to monitor the cessation of hostilities and support the Lebanese government in asserting sovereignty over its southern territory. The force has been a repeated flashpoint during periods of heightened military activity in the region.
The Maldives, separately, directed its condemnation at the Israeli Cabinet's reported approval of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the decision a grave violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions, specifically Resolution 2334. Adopted in 2016, that resolution affirmed that Israeli settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.
Male described the settlement expansion as part of a systematic effort to seize land and displace Palestinians, and said such moves amount to an attempt to permanently alter the status of occupied Palestinian territory. The Maldivian Foreign Ministry urged the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities and to take effective measures to compel Israel to halt all settlement activities.
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Israeli media outlet Channel 24 reported that the settlement approvals were made during a Security Cabinet session held secretly, though the outlet did not specify the precise date of the decision. The session is said to have taken place during the period of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began February 28.
The back-to-back statements from Kuala Lumpur and Male reflect a pattern of Muslim-majority nations in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions taking increasingly assertive diplomatic stances on Israeli military and settlement policy in recent months.
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