Prime Minister Muhammad Najib Abdul Razak of Malaysia arrived in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday for his first visit to the Hamas-controlled area.
Abdul Razak and his wife were welcomed by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at the Rafah crossing, and he gave a brief press conference upon his arrival.
According the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, Abdul Razak urged the different Palestinian factions to unite, and he praised their endurance of Israeli oppression.
“We may be far from you in distance, but we are one nation and believe in the struggle of the Palestinian people,” Abdul Razak said.
The Malaysian premier was scheduled to meet with Hamas politicians, tour sites bombed by Israeli forces and visit a school funded by his majority-Muslim nation in Southeast Asia.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
The West has branded Hamas, which seized Gaza in 2007, as a terror organization. The Arab Spring uprisings that brought Islamists to power in parts of the region also enabled Hamas to break out of its isolation.
In October, the leader of resource-rich Qatar became the first head of state to visit Gaza. Hamas also forged closer ties in the past two years with regional powerhouses Egypt and Turkey.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
