Malta will formally recognise Palestine as a state, Robert Abela says
Prime Minister offers asylum to family devastated by Israeli airstrike
Malta will formally recognise Palestine as a state, Robert Abela said on Sunday.
Speaking during a political activity in Mosta, the prime minister pledged that after 45 years of debate, it will be his government that formally recognises the Palestinian state.
While Malta implicitly recognises Palestinian statehood and hosts a Palestinian ambassador, it has never formally recognised it.
Abela indicated that the development will take place on June 20, the scheduled date of a United Nations conference.
Foreign Minister Ian Borg on Saturday hinted at the possibility of Malta and a group of other countries formally recognising Palestine during the upcoming conference.
Speaking about the wider conflict in Gaza, the prime minister said Malta cannot turn a blind eye to the human tragedies unfolding.
He said Malta is ready to offer asylum to the surviving members of family who fell victim to an Israeli airstrike on Friday.
According to Gaza's civil defence agency, the airstrike in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed nine children from the same family.
The bodies of the nine children were recovered from the home of two doctors, Hamdi al-Najjar and his wife, Alaa al-Najjar. Hamdi al-Najjar and another son, Adam, were also seriously wounded in the strike.
Switching his speech to English, Abela said Malta is ready to provide shelter and asylum to the surviving members of the al-Najjar family.
“Malta is ready to provide shelter for you and your family and treat you as one of its own,” the prime minister said.
‘Full support’ for Daniel Attard
During the same speech, Abela offered his “full support” to Labour MEP Daniel Attard, who is among a group of MEPs caught in the middle of a Belgian bribery investigation centred around a leading Huawei lobbyist.
The investigation into Attard was triggered after the MEP attended an Anderlecht football match at Huawei’s company box at the club stadium.
Turning to Attard, who was present at the Mosta event, Abela hit out at the “baseless attack”, which he insinuated came from the Opposition.
“You have our full support. We will defend you. We will not leave you alone,” Abela told Attard.
Abela said the Opposition had rubbed its hands with glee at a European Court ruling that declared Malta’s passport scheme to be illegal.
“They are champions in doing harm to Malta,” Abela said of the Opposition.
He vowed that the government is working on a “solution” to the court ruling, and invited the Opposition to join in reformulating the scheme.
The prime minister also questioned the Opposition’s competence in running the country.
“They can’t even lead a local council, let alone a country,” Abela quipped in reference to the Għargħur local council, in which the Nationalist Party recently lost its majority.