KUALA LUMPUR, August 1 — Putrajaya continued today to deny claims that Malaysia was a training ground for Hamas militants and accused Israel of fabricating the story to distract from its inability to face the Palestinian fighters in the battered Gaza strip.

Malaysia does not have any military deals with Palestine, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi insisted, slamming Israel’s security agency Shin Bet for claiming that Hamas members had trained to use powered parachutes in Malaysia as part of their preparations against the Israel Defence Force (IDF).

“Malaysia has never had any military cooperation with Hamas or any parties in Palestine. We only maintain diplomatic, trade and cultural cooperation with Palestine,” he said in a statement.

“Israel’s intelligence agency Shin Bet is attempting to create this propaganda to smear Malaysia’s good name with baseless allegations. This is an attempt to save face because they have failed to face the Hamas fighters in Gaza,” he added.

Yesterday, Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post ran a report on the claim, which Shin Bet said was based on information disclosed by a Hamas cell commander they had nabbed on July 21 in Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.

The report however was short on details such as who provided the training and why Malaysia was chosen.

Ahmad Zahid today said the reason Israel made the allegation may have been due to their dissatisfaction with Malaysia over its strong ties with Palestine.

He stressed however that Shin Bet had made a serious allegation against Malaysia, and demanded that Israel furnish proof to back the claim, which he said came hot on the heels of severe international criticism over the IDF’s “criminal” military offensive.

International media have reported that over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 64 Israeli soldiers have been killed 25 days into a military assault by the IDF, to weed out Hamas militants they claim are hiding among the 1.8 million Palestinians living cramped conditions in the Gaza Strip.

Both sides have since agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire that started several hours ago in the Gaza Strip, but 25 more people were reportedly killed in sporadic battles despite the negotiated pause in fighting, according to news channel Al-Jazeera.

Israel’s Zionist regime has branded Palestine’s Hamas a terrorist movement.