Bogor, W Java (ANTARA) - Patron of the Jakarta-based Al Azhar Youth Leader Institute (AYLI), Sariat Arifia, on Saturday called for an immediate end to Israel's "acts of holocaust of Palestinians" in the besieged Gaza Strip.

"We, the people of Indonesia, are furious at the holocaust that Israel has been carrying out in Gaza. The United States of America must stop it," he told ANTARA in Bogor, West Java, on Saturday.

In response to the Israeli occupation forces' ongoing bombardment in Gaza, Arifia said that the US government's failure to stop Israel's "genocide" of Palestinians would accelerate the end of the American era.

Therefore, the US must end its double standards on the prolonged Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is rooted in Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territory, siege, and "apartheid," he said.

"Many friends of the USA will no longer be willing to hear Washington. The countries seeking for justice will no longer come to America," he added.

Arifia said that the international community is awaiting the concrete results of diplomatic efforts being made in the United Nations to end the Israeli collective punishment against the Palestinians.

Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, Israeli occupation forces have consistently bombarded and targeted civilian facilities, including hospitals.

On Saturday, according to Al Jazeera TV's live broadcast, Al Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the besieged enclave, became the Israeli military's target.

The hospital ran out of fuel and water. This forced the hospital's management to suspend operations, which resulted in incubators for babies becoming dysfunctional, according to Al Jazeera.

With regard to Israeli war crimes, Sariat Arifia called on the United Nations to investigate the "holocaust" that the Israeli occupation forces are deliberately continuing to carry out in Gaza.

"All masterminds and perpetrators that have deliberately carried out the genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza must be brought to the International Court of Justice in the Hague," he said.

The US government's failure to stop the Israeli genocide and attacks on hospitals in Gaza could be related to incumbent President Joe Biden's vested interests in the upcoming presidential elections, he added.

Since the start of the war, Biden and his administration have consistently given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unconditional support for his war on Hamas, which rules Gaza.

Biden is a "lame duck" president who needs the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — a lobbying group that comprises more than 3 million pro-Israel Americans — to enable him to get re-elected in the 2024 US Presidential Elections, he said.

"We are so furious at what has been happening in Gaza since October 7. The Israeli acts of holocaust in Gaza must be stopped immediately," he added.

To end the ongoing killings of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, Arifia also urged Indonesia to push the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to take concrete action against the Israeli "genocide."

Fresh armed conflict erupted between Palestine and Israel following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel early in the morning on October 7.

Prior to the assault by Palestinian liberation fighters, Israel had continued its closure of Gaza crossings.

Palestine's news agency WAFA reported on September 25 that the Israeli closure of 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."

Al Jazeera quoted Hamas, which governs Gaza, as stating that its assault on Israel was "a response to the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence."

In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and, according to Al Jazeera, pledged that Israeli forces would "turn all Hamas hideouts into rubble."

The ongoing Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which is home to more than 2 million people, has resulted in the deaths of several thousand Palestinian civilians and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

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Reporter: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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