Anthony Albanese and his Malaysian counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, have moved to defuse regional tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict by agreeing there should be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all remaining Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

Meeting in Melbourne on the eve of the special ASEAN Summit, Dr Anwar said he preferred to avoid “the contentious issues between Palestine and Israel” and focus on the “general consensus” which was calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian assistance for the Gazans.