No Indonesians Killed by Israeli Attacks in Gaza, Ministry Confirms
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31 October 2023 20:36 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed that no Indonesian citizens in the Gaza Strip were killed as a result of the Israeli attacks. The ministry’s spokesperson, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, issued this clarification on Tuesday, Oct. 31, in response to reports that one Indonesian died following the increasingly critical situation caused by a series of air and ground attacks launched by Israel in the enclave.
The news of the death of an Indonesian citizen was first reported on Monday, Oct 30, by a well-known preacher Salim A. Fillah on his Instagram account @salimafillah.
“The Indonesian Foreign Ministry clarified the news to the account owner and sources in Gaza. It has been confirmed that the volunteer named Ahmad Hisyam mentioned in the account is not an Indonesian citizen,” Iqbal said in the press statement.
Ahmad Hisyam was a local resident of Gaza who was volunteering with an Indonesian-based humanitarian NGO. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry expressed its deepest condolences over Hisyam's death.
As of press time, the ministry said ten Indonesian citizens are in Gaza, including three volunteers of the Indonesia-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C).
The ministry’s Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens, Judha Nugraha, also confirmed that the ten Indonesian citizens in the Gaza Strip were safe.
Israel launched its so-called Operation Iron Sword against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7 in response to the Palestinian armed group Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. International communities condemned the Israeli attacks which killed more than 8,000 Palestinians, including women and children.
The UN on Friday, Oct. 27, called on Israel to end its "collective punishment" of the entire population of Gaza, calling it a war crime.
“A humanitarian catastrophe unfolds for the 2.2 million people locked inside Gaza who are being collectively punished. Collective punishment is a war crime. Israel's collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza must immediately cease,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a press conference in Geneva on Oct. 27.
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