VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia has strongly condemned the recent acts of violence in Gaza, which have resulted in suffering and an increasing number of civilian victims, including women and children.

"Indonesia also condemns Israel's attack on Al-Ahli (Baptist) Hospital. The attack is a violation of international humanitarian law," President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said in a video message that was broadcast via the Cabinet Secretariat's YouTube channel on Thursday.

Indonesia will not remain silent since the number of civilian victims has continued to increase, and it will not allow injustice against the Palestinian people, he added.

Therefore, Indonesia, together with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has sent a strong message to the world to stop the escalation of conflict, stop the use of violence, and focus on humanitarian issues, he informed.

Indonesia has also urged the global community to push a resolution to the root of the problem, namely Israel's occupation of Palestine, Widodo stated.

"Now is the time for the world to stand together to build global solidarity to resolve the Palestinian issue fairly and implement mutually agreed international parameters," he added.

President Widodo, who is currently in Riyadh to attend the ASEAN-GCC Summit, promised to continue to raise the Palestinian issue, including at the summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Cooperation Council of Arab States in the Gulf Region as well as in his bilateral meeting with the Saudi Arabian Prime Minister on Friday (October 20, 2023).

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, who had accompanied Widodo on his visit to Beijing, China, to attend the Belt and Road Forum, was asked to leave the presidential entourage early to attend the Extraordinary Meeting of OIC Foreign Ministers in Jeddah on Wednesday (October 18).

The meeting was held in response to Israeli air attacks on Al-Ahli (Baptist) Hospital in Gaza, which killed at least 471 and injured 342 others. (Antaranews)