KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s leader Anwar Ibrahim has said his nation will maintain ties with Hamas and will “not punish” the group. Malaysians should “unani­mously back” the Palestinian cause, the prime minister told parliament on Tuesday. Mr Anwar was responding to a proposal by US lawmakers to sanction Hamas’s foreign support­ers. Analysts say this is also politically expedient in a country where support for Palestinians has long been bipartisan as well as widespread. An opposition lawmaker had asked Mr Anwar about the Malaysian government’s stand after the US House of Repre­sentatives last week voted to sanction foreign sup­porters of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. “I will not accept any threats, including this... This action is unilateral and not valid, because we as members of the United Nations only recognise decisions made by the UN Security Council,” Mr Anwar said. Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation, has long advocated for the Palestinian cause. It does not recognise Israel diplomatically and has maintained that no such recognition will be given until a two-state solu­tion - one for the Israelis and one for the Palestin­ians - is realised.