<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Malaysia barred on Wednesday any Israeli or Israel-bound ships from docking at its ports, as outrage continues to rise over the growing Palestinian death toll in Gaza.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>Public protests in support of Palestine have been regular in Malaysia since the beginning of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza in October.</div><div><br></div><div>Health officials in the Palestinian enclave estimate the daily strikes have since killed nearly 20,000 people — most of them women and children.</div><div><br></div><div>Malaysia’s immediate ban on ships from Israeli shipping company ZIM, as well as any vessels bearing Israel’s flag, was announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.</div><div><br></div><div>“These sanctions are a response to Israel’s actions disregarding basic humanitarian principles and violating international law through continued massacres and atrocities against Palestinians,” he said in a statement.</div><div><br></div><div>“Malaysia also imposes a ban on any ship heading to Israel from loading cargo at Malaysian ports. These restrictions are also with immediate effect.”</div><div><br></div><div>Anwar said ZIM’s ships were allowed by the government to dock in Malaysia from 2002 onwards.</div><div><br></div><div>ZIM is the 10th largest shipping container company in the world, according to a publicly available online record by shipping intelligence provider Alphaliner.</div><div><br></div><div>The record placed the Haifa-based company in Israel with a 598,081 20-foot container capacity — a 2.1 percent global market share as of Dec. 20.</div><div><br></div><div>Malaysia has no formal relations with Tel Aviv, while it has long been vocal in its support for Palestinian independence.</div><div><br></div><div>It does not allow its citizens to use their passports to enter Israel and has barred Israelis from entering its territory.</div><div><br></div><div>Collins Chong Yew Keat, foreign policy and security strategist from the University of Malaya, said the shipping ban came as part of Malaysia’s consistent stance against Israel.</div><div><br></div><div>International pressure was mounting against the war and there was a “growing tilt toward the condemnation of Israel’s actions,” he told Arab News.</div><div><br></div><div>“The ban on Israeli ships is just another expected move made as a message of the unwavering stance of Malaysia on this issue.” - Arab&nbsp; News&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>