Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the 47th Asean Summit and Related Summits here today, Guterres said Malaysia has been a steady advocate for the rights of the Palestinian people and their quest for self-determination.
“I’d like to express my appreciation for what has been the constant, coherent foreign policy of Malaysia that has no double standards, and that has been strongly advocating for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” he said.
He said that while the details of the ceasefire arrangement in Gaza were still being worked out, the immediate priority is to ensure the truce holds and that the first phase of the agreement is fully implemented.
“What is important now is to make sure that the ceasefire holds. The UN is ready to play whatever role the key actors involved in this process decide to do,” he said.
His remarks come as regional and international actors continue efforts to stabilise the situation in Gaza following months of violence.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also told Guterres that Malaysia is ready to join a UN peacekeeping mission in Gaza together with like-minded countries, including members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Bernama reported.
Malaysia has repeatedly called for an end to hostilities and for the protection of civilians, while maintaining support for a two-state solution and Palestine’s full membership in the UN.
It advocates strongly for Palestinian statehood based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital.
During his opening remarks at the East Asia Summit today, Anwar also commended US president Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict, but said more must be done to ensure a just and lasting political solution for the Palestinian people.
Trump’s Gaza peace plan, announced in September 2025, is a 20-point proposal aimed at ending the Gaza conflict through immediate ceasefire, hostage release, prisoner exchanges, demilitarisation of Gaza, deployment of an international stabilisation force, transitional governance by Palestinian technocrats, and large-scale reconstruction.