Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba and the party’s president Alex Sciberras have called for Malta to recognise the state of Palestine just hours after Robert Abela said his government was waiting for the “right moment”. 

Writing on Facebook, Agius Saliba said that following US President Donald Trump’s “declaration that he wants to expel Palestinians from Gaza, it is more important than ever that Malta sends a strong message and recognises the Palestinian State.” 

Earlier this week, Trump stunned the international community when he revealed a plan to relocate Palestinians in Gaza to elsewhere in the region and turn the territory into "the Riviera of the Middle East".

Responding to Agius Saliba’s post, Labour Party president Alex Sciberras said he joined the call to recognise a Palestinian state “without further delay.” 

“No people should ever be exiled from their homes, from a land they cultivated with their sweat, suffering and blood”, he said.  

The two Labour Party figures’ comments seem to point to a split within the party over the controversial issue, however; earlier on Thursday, Abela told journalists that the "right moment” to recognise Palestinian statehood had not yet arrived.  

“Today we believe that the right moment hasn’t arrived yet, but the ideal situation is getting close,” he said.

Asked to respond to Trump’s controversial declaration on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Ian Borg told Times of Malta in brief comments, "We have our foreign policy, and every country has their own policies." 

In a written statement later that day Borg said, "Malta remains a firm believer in a two-state solution for the Palestinians".

In March last year, the government said it would formally recognise a Palestine alongside Spain, Ireland and Slovenia before U-turning on the decision just a couple of months later.

The US later rejected claims of involvement in Malta’s change of heart.