JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Thursday that he will push for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza when he meets US President Joe Biden next week, as Tel Aviv continues its deadly onslaught of the enclave that has killed more than 10,000 Palestinian civilians.
The world’s fourth-most populous nation, Indonesia has been a staunch supporter of Palestine for decades and does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Indonesian people and authorities see Palestinian statehood as mandated by their own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism, and has consistently called for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories and for a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders.
The Indonesian government has been condemning Israeli attacks on Gaza since the escalation began on Oct. 7, and delivered humanitarian assistance earlier this month for Palestinians in the besieged strip consisting of medical equipment and water purifiers.
Widodo will attend a leaders’ summit on Gaza organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Riyadh this coming weekend before continuing his trip to the US. He is scheduled to meet Biden at the White House on Monday.
“This high-level OIC summit will specifically address Gaza,” Widodo told reporters on Thursday.
“Following the outcome of the OIC (summit), I will be assigned to convey that to President Joe Biden so that the Hamas-Israel war can immediately be put to a stop.”
Israel has continued its deadly daily bombardment of the Gaza Strip for more than a month in retaliation for an attack by Gaza-based militant group Hamas that killed about 1,400 Israelis.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more 10,000 Palestinian civilians, more than 40 percent of whom are children, and injured thousands more people. As Tel Aviv continues to target schools, mosques, hospitals and refugee camps, recent reports indicate that Gaza children are experiencing severe dehydration and malnutrition.
Israel has laid a total siege on the already besieged enclave that is home to about 2.3 million people, cutting off food, water, medical and power supplies from entering the strip. Aid deliveries that have been allowed to get through to Gaza remain “completely inadequate,” according to the UN.
