Humanitarian aid for Palestine should go through proper channels, says US Treasury official

KUALA LUMPUR: Support and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people should go through proper and reputable channels, says a top US Treasury official.

Speaking to selected local media, visiting US Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian Nelson said it was important for such funds to go through proper channels instead of going through Hamas.

"We have also seen a concerning increase in the last 20 years in attempts by Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, to raise and move money in the region.

"We urge all those who wish to support humanitarian assistance in Gaza, which is of course an incredibly important cause, to do so through established reputable charity sources to ensure that it is not diverted," he said during the interview at the American Malaysian Chamber Of Commerce (AMCHAM Malaysia) headquarters on Thursday (May 9).

In March, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he never viewed Palestine's Hamas movement as a terror group.

Anwar said it was unfair to focus only on the Oct 7 attack on Israel when Palestinians have been suffering at the hands of the Zionist regime for over 75 years.

Asked if he was optimistic that Malaysia would act upon the recommendations made by the United States due to its differing stance on Hamas and the Palestinian people, Nelson said his country recognised Malaysia's stance, and the most important thing was to end the conflict in the area.

"Once again, we are focused, not only at the Treasury Department, but across our government, in doing everything we can to support the humanitarian assistance towards the Palestinian people.

"We think it is key to ending this conflict, but the more fundamental reason, on some levels, is to make sure that those resources are actually making it to the Palestinian people and not in service of this conflict," he said.