KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia barred on Wednesday any Israeli or Israel-bound ships from docking at its ports, as outrage continues to rise over the growing Palestinian death toll in Gaza.
Public protests in support of Palestine have been regular in Malaysia since the beginning of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza in October.
Health officials in the Palestinian enclave estimate the daily strikes have since killed nearly 20,000 people — most of them women and children.
Malaysia’s immediate ban on ships from Israeli shipping company ZIM, as well as any vessels bearing Israel’s flag, was announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“These sanctions are a response to Israel’s actions disregarding basic humanitarian principles and violating international law through continued massacres and atrocities against Palestinians,” he said in a statement.
“Malaysia also imposes a ban on any ship heading to Israel from loading cargo at Malaysian ports. These restrictions are also with immediate effect.”
Anwar said ZIM’s ships were allowed by the government to dock in Malaysia from 2002 onwards.
ZIM is the 10th largest shipping container company in the world, according to a publicly available online record by shipping intelligence provider Alphaliner.
The record placed the Haifa-based company in Israel with a 598,081 20-foot container capacity — a 2.1 percent global market share as of Dec. 20.
Malaysia has no formal relations with Tel Aviv, while it has long been vocal in its support for Palestinian independence.
It does not allow its citizens to use their passports to enter Israel and has barred Israelis from entering its territory.
Collins Chong Yew Keat, foreign policy and security strategist from the University of Malaya, said the shipping ban came as part of Malaysia’s consistent stance against Israel.
International pressure was mounting against the war and there was a “growing tilt toward the condemnation of Israel’s actions,” he told Arab News.
“The ban on Israeli ships is just another expected move made as a message of the unwavering stance of Malaysia on this issue.”
