JakartaPost/AFP-March 26, 2024
The Foreign Ministry has welcomed a United Nations Security Council resolution for a cease-fire in Gaza, calling on all parties to immediately implement what it described as a legally binding decision. After more than five months of war, the Security Council for the first time on Monday demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza after the United States, an ally of Israel, abstained after having vetoed previous drafts. UN Security Council resolutions are binding for member states, although it remains unclear how the cease-fire will be enforced. “Indonesia calls for immediate implementation of this legally binding resolution by all parties,” the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday morning on social media platform X. “This is the time to ensure delivery of humanitarian assistance at the scale required and protect civilians in Gaza.” Indonesia is not currently a member of the Security Council but has twice sent Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi to open Security Council debates in New York that featured diplomats from non-member states discussing the situation in the Middle East. At a forum in November of last year and one in January of this year Retno pushed for a permanent cease-fire. Since the conflict in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when a surprise attack launched by militant group Hamas ignited a massive reprisal from Israel, Jakarta has involved itself in various diplomatic efforts to promote a total cease-fire, humanitarian assistance and an investigation of Israel’s military activities. Minster Retno, along with several top diplomats from member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), traveled to the Security Council’s four permanent members other than the US – China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France – late last year to make a similar appeal. The new resolution demands an “immediate cease-fire” for the ongoing month of Ramadan, leading to a “lasting” truce, AFP reported. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2024/03/26/indonesia-calls-for-immediate-cease-fire-in-gaza-after-un-vote.html.
