BERLIN: Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was Monday forced to defend his country’s continued ties to Palestinian group Hamas during a visit to Germany, a staunch supporter of the Zionist entity.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with the Zionist entity and many in the country support the Palestinians. Speaking at a press conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Anwar was repeatedly asked about Malaysia’s long-standing ties to Hamas and stance on the war.

He stressed Malaysia’s links were with Hamas’s political wing, adding: “I make no apologies about it. “We do not have any connection with any military outfit or wing, I’ve clarified this to many of my European colleagues (and) the United States.”

He urged people to “understand the fundamental root cause of the problem”. “What I reject strongly is this narrative, this obsession, as if the entire problem begins and ends with the 7th of October,” he said.

There had been decades of “atrocities, plunder and dispossession of Palestinians,” he added. Scholz reiterated Germany’s position that “(the Zionist entity) has the right to defend itself against Hamas’s terror attack”. He also stressed that Berlin “wants more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, we want the hostages to be released unconditionally, we want there to be no unnecessary casualties.” The chancellor also called for efforts to foster long-term peace, and towards a two-state solution.

Germany’s response to the Hamas attack and ensuing war has been driven by guilt over its own dark past, and the slaughter of six million Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust. — AFP