Jakarta (ANTARA) - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi requested the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC's) support for evacuating 10 Indonesian citizens from Palestine's Gaza Strip currently under the Israeli bombardments.

"To this end, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has spoken to ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger in Geneva," Indonesian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Lalu Muhammad Iqbal stated here on Tuesday.

According to the ministry's data, 45 Indonesian citizens currently reside in Palestine. Some 10 of them are in the Gaza Strip that has been under brutal Israeli bombardments since October 7.

In addition to those in Palestine, the ministry noted that 230 Indonesian citizens are also doing religious tours in Israel when Hamas that runs Gaza launched a surprise attack in the early morning of October 7.

Regarding her talks with the ICRC president, Iqbal said Foreign Minister Marsudi has appealed to the ICRC to support Indonesia's efforts to evacuate its citizens from the Gaza Strip.

Minister Marsudi also urged the ICRC to support endeavors to end violence and implement a humanitarian corridor into Gaza, he stated.

Related news: No Indonesians have fallen victim to Israeli assaults on Gaza: Embassy

Apart from holding talks with the ICRC president, Marsudi had also discussed the current situation with representatives of Brazil that currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Minister Marsudi highlighted the importance of pushing for an immediate end to the armed violence and a humanitarian corridor into Gaza, Iqbal remarked.

The new armed conflict erupted again following the Hamas surprise attack on Israel on Saturday morning. Prior to the Palestinian liberation fighters' assaults, Israel continued its closure of Gaza crossings.

The WAFA News Agency reported on September 25 that the Israeli closure of the Gaza crossings had worsened the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza.

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

With regard to the human cost of this new armed conflict of Palestine and Israel, Turkiye's media outlet TRT World reported on Wednesday that at least 1,200 Israelis had been killed and 2,900 others got injured.

The repeated Israeli bombardments had increased the Palestinian death toll to 900 and caused 4,500 others to get wounded, TRT World reported.

Related news: Indonesia pushes for efforts to stop violence in Palestine

Related news: President Jokowi calls to put immediate end to Israel-Palestine war

Translator: Katriana, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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