KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 – The United States government is in the midst of brokering a sustained ceasefire in Gaza and is currently working closely with its partners, Egypt and Qatar.
The United States (US) Ambassador to Malaysia, Edgard D Kagan, said that the effort is a concerted one from all parties to ensure that the ongoing ceasefire can be fully implemented.
“…you know, ultimately what people want to know is what are we doing now? And what we’re doing now is working very, very hard with our partners, the Egyptians and the Qataris, to try and bring about a meaningful and sustained ceasefire.
“I think that it’s important to recognise this is not something that’s only going to be done by one side. There needs to be actions on both sides and I think that we’re working with our partners to try and make sure that that gets done.”
Kagan said this when appearing on Bernama TV’s programme “The Nation” during his visit to the national news agency’s headquarters on Monday.
Elaborating further, the career diplomat said the US government is actively participating in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“We are also very conscious and very concerned about the humanitarian tragedy that is happening in Gaza, and we’re working very hard with partners to try and bring about the surge of humanitarian assistance, including by building a facility that will allow the unloading of greater amounts of humanitarian aid.
“We’re participating in airdrops and I think that you’ve seen that the US is trying to show diplomatic leadership,” he said.
In early March, the US Department of Defence announced that it would undertake an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza to deliver up to two million humanitarian aid meals per day, according to Anadolu Agency (AA).
Kagan presented his credentials as the ambassador of the United States to His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, on March 24.