JAKARTA: Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi urged the world to pressure Israel to “stop its atrocities” in the Gaza Strip on Monday, as she condemned attacks on the enclave’s Indonesian Hospital.
Israeli forces commenced an operation against the facility on Sunday night, killing at least a dozen people, including civilians. The latest attack comes after Israeli troops besieged Gaza’s largest medical center, Al-Shifa Hospital, for several days.
“Indonesia strongly condemns the Israeli attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza that has killed a number of civilians. The attack was a clear violation of international humanitarian laws,” Marsudi said in a video statement.
“All countries, especially those that have close relations with Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities to urge Israel to stop its atrocities.”
She said the Indonesian Foreign Ministry has been trying to reach the three Indonesian volunteers at the hospital, who remain missing as of Monday evening.
The volunteers previously refused the government’s offer to help them evacuate, and opted to stay to provide emergency support. They are part of the Indonesian nongovernmental organization Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, or MER-C, which funded the hospital’s construction in 2015.
MER-C said last week that the hospital was no longer able to take in new patients as the facility had run out of medical supplies.
The hospital, located in Beit Lahiya, has been treating hundreds of people and sheltering thousands more since Israel began operations in Gaza after an attack by the militant group Hamas on Oct. 7.
Israeli forces are believed to have killed at least 13,000 Palestinians, with two-thirds of the dead women and children, according to the UN. Palestinian health authorities estimate that thousands of people are still buried underneath the ruins of buildings destroyed as daily bombardments continue to devastate the enclave.
