Hamas has firmly denied news reports by the Israeli media which claimed that its members were trained in Malaysia to carry out parachute attacks.

The unfounded accusations, it said, were created by the Israeli intelligence and aimed at distorting the image of the growing international solidarity with the Palestinian people who were massacred by the Zionist regime.

"The Israeli creation of such accusations is an attempt to divert attention from the ongoing massacre and genocide committed by the Israeli army against the Palestinian civilians, children, women and the elderly," it said in a statement published in its official website.

The statement was published in Arabic and translated into English by the Palestinian Cultural Organisation Malaysia.

Commenting on the Israeli news reports yesterday, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia had never established any military cooperation with Hamas or any party in Palestine.

The relationship and cooperation with Palestine was only in diplomacy, trade and culture, he said in a statement yesterday.

"Malaysia is also a strong supporter of the Palestinians, morally and via humanitarian aid. The strong support of Malaysians is because of the long relationship between Malaysian and Palestinian leaders.

"This may have caused dissatisfaction on the part of Israel," said Ahmad Zahid.

The Jerusalem Post online newspaper recently quoted an alleged Hamas cell member as saying that Malaysia was a training ground for Hamas members on the use of powered parachutes as part of the group's preparation against the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

The report also quoted the Hamas member as telling the Israeli Security Agency or Shin Bet that they (Hamas members) were also trained on how to abduct (Israeli) military personnel.

Hamas, or Harakat al-Muqawamat al-Islamiyah (Islamic Resistance Movement), was established in 1987.

- Bernama