Malaysian PM attends large pro-Palestine rally in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 24 (EFE).- Thousands of people filled an indoor stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday in a show of support for Palestine, as Israel continues to bombard the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an attack by the Islamist group Hamas on Oct. 7.

The rally, which was attended by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, kicked off Tuesday afternoon with a call to prayer at the Axiata Arena stadium in the Malaysian capital.

Many of those present carried banners with messages calling for the liberation of Palestine and the organizers expect up to 20,000 people to gather at the stadium on Tuesday night, according to the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, organizer of the event together with several NGOs. Ibrahim earlier urged Malaysians to show unity and condemn Israel’s “atrocities” against the Palestinian people.

This is the fourth such rally in Malaysia since the Hamas attack on Israel. At the last one on Sunday, thousands of people rallied in downtown Kuala Lumpur in support of Palestine in a peaceful march organized by the NGOs Viva Palestina Malaysia and Humanitarian Care Malaysia.

The march was attended by ministers and other officials, as well as citizens of other countries, including some Palestinian nationals living in Malaysia.

The government of Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, has condemned Israel’s attacks following the declaration of a state of war on Oct. 7 in the wake of the attack by militiamen from Gaza in southern Israeli territory, in which more than 1,400 people were killed and more than 220 kidnapped.

In response, Israeli air strikes have killed 5,791 people in Gaza, according to figures released Monday by the Gazan Ministry of Health. EFE

sn-pav/ks