"Indonesia condemns Israels military offensive in Gaza. It is an act that has caused a lot of innocent casualties in Palestine, and it has created a new obstacle in the efforts to create a condition conducive for the continuation of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine," stated Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa.
The minister noted that Israels recent military action had aggravated the distress of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. Marty described the military action as a "collective punishment" conducted by Israel on the people of Palestine.
"It must be understood that the core problem here is Israel occupying Palestines area. This must end. We must push through the peace negotiation process between Israel and Palestine in order for them to agree on a two-state solution," Marty remarked.
"Regarding Israels recent attack, the UNs Security Council and the international community must push Israel to stop conducting violence on the civilians in Gaza. This circle of violence needs to end," he emphasized.
In response to Israels recent military attack, Marty emphasized that Indonesia will work with the Palestinian authority and leaders from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to draw international attention towards the situation in Gaza.
Earlier, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had urged all involved parties in the recent Gaza violations to avoid further civilian casualties.
With Israeli airstrikes on the enclave intensifying and Palestinians responding through rocket attacks against Israel, Ban Ki-moon expressed concern over the increase in violence in the Gaza Strip and reiterated his call on all actors to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further civilian casualties and overall destabilization.
"These indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas must stop," reads Ban Ki-moons statement and that "the secretary general is extremely concerned about the dangerous escalation of violence, which has already resulted in multiple Palestinian deaths and injuries as a result of Israeli operations against Gaza."
"It is imperative now to restore calm. The unsustainable situation in Gaza will also need to be addressed in its political, security, humanitarian, and development dimensions as part of a comprehensive solution," he noted.
The Israeli regime has launched several raids against the besieged enclave following alleged abduction and killing of three settlers. In retaliation, the Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian teenager.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed or wounded in recent escalation of airstrikes on Gaza.
(T.A051/A/KR-BSR/O001)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
