KUALA LANGAT: Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari has strongly condemned the airstrike that killed eight humanitarian workers from the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisations (MAPIM) in Gaza last Saturday.

He said this was unacceptable and not in line with the spirit of the ceasefire which was reported to have come into effect on Jan 19.

“Basically, we know that the Palestinians are ready for the ceasefire but the ceasefire ends with killings, and we know that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has issued a statement and we strongly condemn the atrocities committed by Israel against Palestine and we cannot accept it.

“We do defend our NGOs (non-governmental organisations) to provide humanitarian services in the form of medical and other related aid and, as the Prime Minister said before, we will continue to assist in terms of health needs, food and others,” he said.

He said this when met at the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) Peduli Veteran MADANI (PVM) and the Breaking of Fast with MAF Veterans programme here today.

Earlier, the Prime Minister, after chairing the Special Penang Development Meeting, strongly condemned the killing of humanitarian workers in the airstrike, besides officially issuing a strong protest against the ongoing violence in Gaza and other parts of Palestine.

In another development, Adly said the PVM was held to meet MAF veterans face-to-face, identify the actual needs of the group and obtain feedback on the initiatives implemented by the ministry.

He said that they have, so far, assisted 26 veterans in the Klang Valley – 15 in Kuala Lumpur and 11 in Selangor.

“The Klang Valley-level PVM was specifically held to reach out to the MAF veterans in urban areas to have a deeper understanding of life’s challenges and the welfare aspects that need attention, especially health,” he said.

He said that, so far, a total of 31,000 MAF veterans have received the bantuan sara hidup (living assistance) of RM500 per month from the MAF Veterans Affairs Department.

Today’s event also saw four entrepreneurs, who are MAF veterans, receiving incentives in the form of soap-making equipment, kuih siput machines, commercial ovens and coconut processing machines.