VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOI, Jakarta - Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has said that the Israeli occupation forces' ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip is not an act of self-defense, but a genocidal campaign against Palestinians.

"The world regards what Israel has been doing (to Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023) has gone beyond an act of self-defense. Instead, it has been a genocide," he added.

After inaugurating a Citra Borneo Indah (CBI) Group project in Central Kalimantan province, he said that Indonesia and several members of the United Nations Security Council have agreed to call for an immediate end to the "genocide."

To comprehensively resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, whose root cause rests in Israel's prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territory, the two-state solution can again be pushed forward, Amin added.

Indonesia and many other UN member countries are continuing to push the two-state solution through diplomatic efforts at UN forums. However, the UN forums have yet to execute the solution, he said.

The United Nations' failure to implement the two-state solution is always related to the United States and Israel's rejections, he pointed out.

Regarding efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip, Amin said that Indonesia and many other countries have continued to push for unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to the overcrowded enclave.

"We have called for safe and uninterrupted flow of aid trucks into Gaza from Egypt's Rafah border crossing," he added.

Fresh armed conflict erupted between Israel and Palestine again following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel early in the morning on October 7.

Prior to the assaults by Palestinian liberation fighters, Israel had continued its closure of Gaza crossings.

Palestine's news agency WAFA reported on September 25 that the Israeli closure of Gaza crossings had worsened the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to WAFA, the Palestinians had already suffered from the severe impact of "more than 17 years of tight Israeli land, sea, and air blockades."

Al Jazeera quoted Hamas, which governs Gaza, as saying that its assault on Israel was "a response to the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence."

In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and, according to Al Jazeera, pledged that the Israeli forces would "turn all Hamas hideouts into rubble."

Since then, the Israeli occupation forces have continued to bombard Gaza. Since the start of the war, at least 6,456 Palestinian civilians have been killed, while Israel has lost at least 1,400 citizens.

Israel has also implemented collective punishment in its efforts to crush Hamas in the Gaza Strip by cutting off supplies of food, water, fuel, and electricity to the besieged enclave, which is home to around 2.3 million people.

In the midst of the Israeli preparation for a wide range of military operations in Gaza, pro-Palestinian rallies have broken out around the world, calling for an immediate end to the ongoing violence against Palestinians.(Antaranews)