He said while Malaysia welcomed the Gaza peace plan initiated by US president Donald Trump, “we do not want another pause between wars”.

“We are dealing with (Israeli prime minister) Benjamin Netanyahu and his Cabinet, who have made no pretensions. They are not going to honour (the ceasefire).

“So the ceasefire, as far as we are concerned, must be a doorway to rebuilding Gaza, restoring dignity and recognising (the Palestinians’) right to live freely in their own land,” he said at a conference at the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) here today.

Anwar also took aim at the “hypocrisy” of world leaders involved in bilateral engagements on the issue, accusing them of “harping on about human rights and justice and order, and condoning these atrocities against the people”.

“(They speak) with such confidence and a clear conscience, condoning these atrocities, when we have watched neighbourhoods erased in minutes, civilians bombed, hospitals flattened and convoys turned back.

“The law is cited but never enforced. So to me, it’s not a mere humanitarian catastrophe. It is the moment when belief in law itself begins to fade.

“When law becomes selective, it becomes propaganda. When power no longer feels the need to justify itself, barbarism returns dressed in modern, sophisticated clothes,” he said.

Anwar said he had recently assured the Dewan Rakyat, following questions about Trump’s attendance at the coming Asean summit, that Malaysia would continue to engage the US on Palestine.

“We will state our opposition (to Israel’s war) firmly and clearly, as we have done so in front of (former) president Joe Biden or (former German chancellor) Olaf Scholz and the rest,” he said.