Jokowi invites Saudi Arabia to jointly stop conflict escalation in Gaza

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) invited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to jointly stop the escalation of conflict in Gaza to prevent it from increasing.

“Indonesia strongly condemns Israeli attack on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza which resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties,” he stated during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, at the Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

As quoted from a statement from the Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat received here on Friday, at Thursday’s meeting, Jokowi expressed Indonesia’s concern about the increasingly worsening situation in Palestine. He emphasized Indonesia’s stance that strongly condemns all attacks that impact humanity in the country.

The president also encouraged the problems in the Palestinian and Israeli conflict areas to be resolved immediately in accordance with the provisions that have been agreed upon.

“This is the time for the world to stand together to stop escalation, prioritize the humanitarian issue, and resolve the root of the problem according to the international parameters that have been agreed upon,” he stated.

Earlier, President Jokowi had sent Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi to attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ extraordinary meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday.

The meeting was held to respond to an Israeli air strike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza that killed at least 471 people and injured 342 others.

At the meeting, Marsudi urged the organization to send a strong message and mobilize international support in handling the worsening conflict situation in Gaza.

Indonesia then called on the OIC to urge all relevant parties to create humanitarian corridors in Gaza and ensure that international humanitarian laws are respected.