THE nation’s largest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), called for restraint from both Palestine and Israel amid heightening conflicts in the region, saying in a statement that an open war would only harm civilians.
The call came as the latest addition to a growing number of appeals from Islamic groups across the nation, as death tolls on both sides continue to rise, and the government’s ongoing effort to find a contingency plan to evacuate its nationals intensifies.
Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise assault on Israel from Gaza on Saturday, firing a barrage of rockets and sending a wave of fighters who gunned down civilians and took at least 100 hostages, AFP reported.
In retaliation, Israeli air strikes have hammered the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip, an enclave of 2.3 million people, with officials there reporting at least 413 Palestinian deaths.
NU central board (PBNU) chairman Achmad Fahrur Rozi on Monday said the organisation was “profoundly concerned” with the ongoing conflict, calling for an “immediate end” to the situation as well as a resolution and supervision from the United Nations.
“We hope and call for an immediate ceasefire on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides for a mediation and withdrawal from violence,” Achmad said.
“The arms power [between the two sides] is imbalanced and will only worsen the suffering of the Palestinian people.
“A peace-led solution is much more preferred than continuous war.”
Also on Monday, reports emerged that the UN Security Council had met behind closed doors in an emergency meeting to discuss the matter, but failed to reach a consensus for a joint statement.
The previous day, Muhammadiyah central executive board (PP) general secretary Abdul Mu’ti said the armed conflict was “deeply concerning”, citing the distress of civilians as the “future of Palestine has become even more uncertain”, various reports said.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Ulema Council Foreign Relations Chief Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim said that while peace-led dialogues had not been able to bear much fruit in the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict, the ideal settlement would “not have to involve war”, and that Tel Aviv must pull its troops back.
“I think that everybody, every [party] involved, does not want violence to be part of this,” said Sudarnoto.
“There should not be war, there should be peace efforts.”
In a Sunday statement, Sudarnoto condemned Israel’s military attack, which targeted hospitals.
The Indonesian Medical Emergency Rescue Committee reported that the Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip had hit an Indonesian hospital and killed one of its local workers.
The Indonesian government had begun preparing a contingency plan to evacuate its citizens from the Gaza Strip, calling on Indonesians residing in Palestine to be vigilant and to avoid conflict areas.
At least 10 Indonesian citizens reside in the Gaza Strip, and none had been hurt in the recent attack, said Judha Nugraha, the foreign ministry’s director for citizens protection.
Three other Indonesians have returned via Egypt.
“The Foreign Ministry continues to coordinate closely with our embassies in Amman, Cairo and Beirut, to monitor the situation and to prepare a contingency plan,” Judha told reporters.
“Evacuation is one part of the plan.”
Recent data from the ministry shows there are around 35 Indonesians residing in the West Bank and 230 Indonesian tourists currently visiting Israel.
Having officially declared war, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had ordered a “complete siege” on Gaza, calling for electricity cuts and blocked entries for food and fuel.
Within Israel, fighting wreaked havoc at several locations where Hamas fighters were still hiding.
It was also reported that dozens of foreign nationals hailing from Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Thailand, Ukraine and the United States have been reported as killed, abducted or missing amid the conflict.
The Indonesian government on Sunday issued its expression of “deep concern” for the escalation, also “[urging for] the immediate end of violence to avoid further human casualties”.
Indonesia has been a fervent supporter of Palestine, a stance that has become a cornerstone of its decades-old foreign policy.
“The root of the conflict is Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, which must be resolved in accordance with the parameters agreed upon by the UN,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
