Israeli Aggression Against Gaza, Jokowi Proposes 4 Solutions to Resolve It

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi proposed four solutions to resolve Israeli aggression against the occupied Palestinian territory in the Gaza Strip in his speech at the Extraordinary Islamic Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC Summit), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, November 11, 2023. The peace proposal includes a ceasefire weapons and calls for a resumption of negotiations.

Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, gathered world Arab and Muslim leaders to give pressure to the United States and Israel to end attacks on Gaza. The OIC summit urged the International Court of Justice (ICC) to investigate war crimes and also crimes against humanity committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories, according to the final communique.

Dozens of leaders including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was readmitted to the Arab League this year, attended.

Request a ceasefire

The first point of the proposal submitted by Jokowi is an Israeli ceasefire. Without a ceasefire, according to the president, the situation in Gaza will currently get worse.

"Israel has used the narrative of 'self defense' and continues to murder civilians. This is nothing but collective punishment (mass extermination) and we all have to find a way for Israel to immediately implement a ceasefire," said Jokowi in his speech.

the second point, Indonesia asked the OIC to encourage the acceleration and expansion of sustainable humanitarian assistance to Palestine. The President gave the example that Indonesia has continued to send humanitarian aid to Palestine recently and will continue to add more.

"Humanitarian conditions are worrying. The Indonesian Hospital in North Gaza continues to be the target of Israeli attacks and has run out of fuel. Indonesia asks all parties to respect international humanitarian law," said Jokowi.

Jokowi urges the OIC to hold Israel accountable

The third point, Jokowi also asked the OIC to use all fronts to hold Israel accountable for humanitarian atrocities in Palestine.

"For example, it is urgent to be given access to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory which was formed by the UN Human Rights Council to carry out its mandate. And to continue to support the advisory opinion process at the international court," he said.

The fourth point, Jokowi urged the OIC to restart peace negotiations in order to realize a two-state solution.

"(The goal) is to reject the idea of a one-state solution because Palestine will definitely be sacrificed. If the quartet mechanism cannot be relied on, then the OIC must encourage the peace negotiation process with a new format. And Indonesia is ready to contribute to this," he said.

More than 10,000 Gaza residents were killed

Palestine said 10,812 Gaza residents had died as a result of Israeli air and artillery attacks as of Thursday, November 9, 2023. The attacks were launched by Israel in response to Hamas aggression in the southern region of the country in early October.

According to Palestine, around 40 percent of the victims were children. They also stated that supplies of basic necessities were running out and areas were devastated by incessant Israeli bombardment.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, November 10, 2023, that the death toll from the Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel had been revised to around 1,200 people from the government's previous estimate of 1,400 people.

“Around 1,200 is the official number of victims of the October 7 massacre,” spokesman Lior Haiat said in a written statement.

Haiat said the figures had been updated on Thursday. He did not state the reason for the revision.

Israel rejects ceasefire

Israel has not agreed to any ceasefire during its military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but will continue to provide short, limited pauses to allow humanitarian aid to enter.

"There is no ceasefire, I repeat there is no ceasefire. What we did, that four hour period, was a tactical and local pause for humanitarian assistance," said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

The United States said Israel would begin a daily four-hour pause in the Northern Gaza Strip to allow Palestinians to escape hostilities in the coastal region.

DANIEL A. FAJRI | REUTERS

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