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