US Embassy assured all M'sians detained by Israel will return safely: Kamil
PKR Youth chief Kamil Munim said the assurance was conveyed during a meeting with US embassy representatives this afternoon.
“Alhamdulillah, they have...
The United States has assured that 23 Malaysians detained by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) during the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) mission will be brought home safely.
PKR Youth chief Kamil Munim said the assurance was conveyed during a meeting with US embassy representatives this afternoon.
“Alhamdulillah, they have received our memorandum. Yesterday, we had planned to submit it, but were blocked and prevented.
“The US embassy has given assurance that all Malaysians currently detained by Israel will return to our country immediately, and that their safety will be guaranteed,” he said during an anti-Israel rally near the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur today.
Yesterday, the Sumud Nusantara Operations Centre (SNCC) confirmed that 23 Malaysian volunteers taking part in the GSF mission were detained by the Israeli military.
SNCC director-general Sani Araby Abdul Alim Araby said they were detained at 4.25pm Malaysian time, after communications were cut off and visuals showed the Israeli military making the arrests.
“Initial reports confirm sightings of vessels such as the Sirius, Estrella, Alma, and Huga beginning to enter Ashdod Port in Ashkelon.
“SNCC anticipates that some participants may have been moved ashore,” he said at a press conference in Sepang.
For the record, yesterday Kamil - who is also a political secretary to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - failed in his attempt to submit a protest memorandum to the US embassy.
The embassy refused to accept the memorandum due to security reasons following the demonstration.
However, the embassy later contacted Kamil to state its willingness to receive the memorandum.
Negotiation on deportation ongoing
Sani Araby, who is also the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisation (Mapim) CEO, said negotiations with Israeli authorities to deport GSF detainees are ongoing.
He added that lawyers from the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) are representing the detainees in these negotiations, including Malaysians.
“Adalah’s lawyers have been appointed as the legal counsel for this mission.
“We can confirm that our Malaysian delegates were found safe and well, and that maximum diplomatic negotiations are being mobilised by Anwar with several strategic partner countries, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the US’ secretary of state.
“This mission (of bringing home delegates) is truly a national effort, as we join together our prayers and unwavering support for our government to bring the delegates home,” he told a press conference today.
The objective of the GSF mission, he added, is not just a mere voyage but also a form of pressure on world leaders to stop the ongoing war against Palestinians.
“We’re calling them to stop the war, end the famine, and reopen the Rafah humanitarian corridor, in which, I believe, the mission will achieve its ultimate objective, with all of us in it together.
“I believe the Israeli regime has begun the negotiation (for deportation) early due to the pressure from everybody in the world, which means that all the pressure and criticism we gave may directly impact the regime.”
Earlier, Anwar reportedly said that he had sought assistance from Erdogan to repatriate Malaysian volunteers, to be brought to Istanbul on a special Turkiye aircraft together with Turkiye citizens.
He added that several preliminary understandings, following these discussions, have been reached since this morning.
Offering support to families
Meanwhile, Sani said the SNCC is housing the delegates’ families.
This, he said, would enable SNCC’s officers to provide the families with emotional and spiritual support, especially in the next 48 hours.
“The families are in good health and good condition. We’ve received a mandate from the prime minister, as well as the communications minister and the religious minister, to provide the families as much support as we can, especially psychologically.
“The families have been filled with worry, especially with seeing many postings on social media about the delegates before today.
“But I believe they’ve grown calmer after they learned that the delegates would be deported… We’ll be supporting them in any way until all the delegates return.”
Sani said that SNCC will hold two press conferences to update the delegates’ condition, where one will be held tonight, at 9pm, with Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, who is the co-patron of Sumud Nusantara’s delegates, and the other will be held tomorrow morning with Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan.
