Jakarta calls for end to violence as Israeli strikes hit Indonesian hospital in Gaza
JAKARTA: Indonesia on Sunday called for an immediate end to violence amid deadly bombings in Gaza, after the Indonesian-run hospital in the Gaza Strip was damaged by an Israeli airstrike.
The latest round of escalating violence between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israeli forces erupted after the former launched a multi-pronged attack over the weekend on the latter, while Israel responded with raids air raids on the Gaza Strip, where around 2.2 million people live.
The Indonesian hospital, located in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, was among the structures hit by Israeli forces on Saturday, an attack that killed a member of the facility’s local staff.
“Indonesia is deeply concerned about the escalation of the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Indonesia calls for an immediate end to the violence to avoid further loss of life,” the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“The root of the conflict, namely Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, must be resolved within the parameters agreed by the UN.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry on Sunday put the death toll in the Gaza Strip at 313, with nearly 2,000 injured, while at least 250 Israelis were killed.
“Parts of the Indonesian hospital building were damaged,” the Indonesian nongovernmental organization Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, or MER-C, which funded the hospital, said in a statement.
“The direct attack on the Indonesian hospital complex in Beit Lahia, Gaza, on Saturday appears to amplify the fact that, in the Israeli-Palestinian war, international humanitarian law is never taken into account for Israel. »
Israeli forces also struck other facilities in the Gaza Strip, including an ambulance outside Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, according to Doctors Without Borders.
Indonesia has for decades been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, with the population and authorities of the world’s largest Muslim-majority country viewing the creation of a Palestinian state as mandated by their own constitution, which calls for abolition of colonialism.
The Southeast Asian country maintains no diplomatic relations with Israel and the Indonesian government has repeatedly called for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories and a two-state solution based on previous borders. 1967.
Jakarta has also repeatedly called on the UN Security Council to implement all its resolutions relating to Palestine.
The Aqsa Working Group, an Indonesian organization based in Bogor, West Java, which champions the Palestinian cause, has also extended its support to the Palestinians following the recent escalation.
“(Saturday’s) attack is a logical response by the Palestinian people against the injustice of the Zionist regime and its allies,” the AWG said in a statement.
“This is a very logical response given that international organizations are not able to do much to bring peace and independence to Palestine and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”