KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian peacekeepers will only be deployed to Palestine upon request by the United Nations (UN).
Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Seri Johari Baharum said Malaysia had been on peacekeeping missions under UN, with the latest being the Armed Forces’ (ATM) current involvement in Malbatt 850-5 to Lebanon.
“Indeed, we (ATM) are involved in such peacekeeping missions. However, whether we are needed or not, that depends on the UN.
“We will not carry out anything (conduct security mission) without the knowledge of the UN, just like when we sent a peacekeeping team to Lebanon,” he told reporters after the Defence Ministry’s level 2017 Innovation Day event at Wisma Pertahanan here today.
United States’ President Donald Trump decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, has led to new tensions in Palestine.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Armed Forces Chief General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor said the Malaysian Field Hospital in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, which began operations on Nov 29 had received patients and performed several surgeries.
He said ATM provided basic facilities for the hospital, which is being operated by the Health Ministry.
On Nov 26, health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said among those involved were medical specialists, public healthcare practitioners, medical officers, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technologists and environmental health assistants, who worked on rotation.
The RM3.5-million hospital is located in the Ukhiya region, about 10 minutes from the main Kutupalong and Bhalukali refugee camps. — BERNAMA