ANKARA

Malaysia and Afghanistan on Wednesday strongly condemned the Israeli army's bombing of the Rafah municipality building, with Kuala Lumpur urging the international community to step up efforts to put pressure on the Israeli regime to cease its "blatant criminal acts."

"The attacks, which came just hours after Hamas’ acceptance of a cease-fire proposal from the peace negotiations brokered by Egypt and Qatar, only demonstrate Israel’s intransigence and unwillingness to work for peace," said the Foreign Ministry in Kuala Lumpur.

"The Israeli regime is bent on pursuing genocide and a war of extermination against the besieged Palestinians. As such, Israel deserves the strongest condemnation from the international community," said the ministry.

It added that Israeli forces' ongoing attacks on civilians in Rafah are "unequivocally abhorrent and reprehensible, particularly as innocent children, women, and the most vulnerable are sheltering in densely populated camps."

‘A war crime and massacre of Palestinian Muslims’

Interim Afghan Taliban administration strongly condemned the Israeli attack on Rafah city in Gaza and called it an act of "a war crime and massacre of Palestinian Muslims."

In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that approximately 1.4 million Palestinians from northern and central Gaza, as well as Khan Younis, have been displaced and stationed in the township and are living in dire conditions, struggling to survive.

"Now, once again the invading forces of the Zionist regime have committed a great crime against all international laws and principles and have targeted innocent Palestinians with merciless bombings," he said.

Mujahid called this act "a war crime and massacre of Palestinian Muslims" and urged the Islamic world and other countries to prevent this disaster and try in every possible way to ensure their access to food, shelter, and basic human needs.

"Unfortunately, the international community and influential governments remain silent on the systematic genocide of Palestinians by the Zionist regime in Gaza," he lamented.

The Israeli army on Tuesday began its invasion of the eastern area of Rafah, storming and occupying the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, closing Gaza's only gateway to the outside world.

On Monday, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah, widely interpreted as a prelude to Israel's long-feared attack on the city, which is home to approximately 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people. More than 34,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 78,100 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid