Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government welcomes the truce agreement between Hamas and Israel that will pave the way for the implementation of a four-day humanitarian pause in the besieged Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated.

"Indonesia has consistently been echoing the importance of ending the armed conflict for the sake of uninterruptible humanitarian aid in Gaza," she noted in a statement published on social media platform X on Wednesday.

This Qatar-mediated truce agreement that is reportedly set to begin on Thursday morning will hopefully pave the way for a permanent end to the conflict and a start of bringing all related parties to seek just and comprehensive peace, Marsudi remarked.

The minister stated that Indonesia lauds Qatar that has left no stone unturned to make both Hamas and Israel agree on the truce by coordinating with Egypt and the United States.

"During the humanitarian pause, the Foreign Ministry will continue to monitor the condition of three Indonesian humanitarian workers at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza," she added.

Apart from the temporary ceasefire that Hamas and Israel had agreed on Wednesday and was set to be made effective on Thursday morning, Al Jazeera quoted Israeli officials as saying that 50 hostages in Gaza would not be released before Friday.

The hostage deal, which is part of the truce agreement, also includes the release of 150 Palestinian women and children being jailed in Israel, according to media reports.

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, 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 Hamas attack that reportedly killed 1,200 Israelis, 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 Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million people, has resulted in the deaths of more than 14 thousand Palestinian civilians and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Related news: Indonesia sends medicines, medical equipment to Palestine
Related news: Gaza: Indonesia condemns Israeli attack on Indonesian Hospital

Related news: Difficult to make contact with three Indonesians in Gaza: Marsudi


Translator: Yashinta DP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2023