No terrorist attack justifies retaliation that results in the butchering and massacring of innocent children, parents and civilians, Robert Abela said on Sunday, calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East on Remembrance Day.

Addressing PL party supporters in Paola, the Prime Minister said it was an opportune moment to remember the suffering of war.

"I will continue calling for action that protects the lives of innocent children and families, and all of those, who without fault of their own, are being murdered and orphaned.

"Without any doubt, we condemn the Hamas attack [on October 7] on Israel, but no terrorist attack - and better still - no right of self-defence should lead to retaliation that sees the butchering and massacring of innocent children, parents and civilians and the loss of so many innocent lives.

"I urge for a permanent pause - not 'pauses' - and therefore, a ceasefire in the Middle East and a two-state solution for peace to reign and for these atrocities to stop," Abela said in one of his strongest condemnations since the escalation of Israel’s operations in Gaza.

According to international reports, Israel's campaign to wipe out Hamas has killed more than 11,000 people in just a month, mostly civilians and thousands of children.

Abela made the statement after activists wrote to the government urging it to recall its ambassador in Tel Aviv.

The letter to Abela and Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg is endorsed by more than 150 members of Maltese civil society and organisations including President Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. The original letter was signed by Yana Mintoff, the daughter of former PL prime minister Dom Mintoff as well as his granddaughter Cetta Mainwaring.

In his address, Abela recalled the beginnings of the PL party in Malta a century ago, when he said activists believing they could make a difference in people's lives had come together.

The Paola PL centre Abela was speaking at had remained active and relevant for over 100 years, allowing the PL administration to address current realities, he said.

Among such realities was the fact that some parents of children with disabilities were finding it challenging to return to work. To this end, the government has bolstered a handout to such parents - called the Carers Grant - four times since 2021, he said.

Abela listed a series of initiatives linked to children and education that his government was planning for 2024, saying the PL was driven by two principles: standing by the weakest and ensuring social mobility. 

'We will keep our promise with teachers'

Faced with the threat of industrial action culminating in a teachers' strike on November 27, Abela on Sunday said the government "will continue investing in educators".

"In our electoral manifesto, we said we wanted to substantially strengthen the work conditions of our educators. We will keep our word.

"Whenever we sat at the negotiation tables for collective agreements with various sectors, we proposed work conditions with pay packages that were strong, responsible and sustainable."

"We are administering the funds of the country so we have a responsibility towards the whole country. This is the spirit within which negotiations should continue with the educators' union. Recent months are proof of historic collective agreements: we gave the best pay and work conditions packages to nurses, midwives, ESG technicians and police force."

'PN incompetent and verging on the populist'

Abela on Sunday also took several digs at the PN, saying that while the government's budget for 2024 was proof that the PL was the party of the workers and had socialist roots, the Opposition did not even prepare a pre-budget document.

The prime minister said PN spokespeople, including leader Bernard Grech, had sent mixed messages about the issue of foreign workers in Malta.

While one spokesperson said PN would downsize the population to pre-2013 figures, another delegate had said Malta required more health workers, Abela said.

Meanwhile, another spokesperson said Malta required an additional 60,000 workers, while Grech said a PN government would kick out elderly carers if they did not know the Maltese language, the Prime Minister added.

Abela said the PN delegates were incompetent and verging on the populist. 

He warned the electorate not to trust the governance of the country in the hands of amateurs, urging supporters to back the party so that PL can continue taking "big decisions".