Vice Chairperson of the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP) of the House Sukamta. Photo: Ist/Andri

PARLEMENTARIA, Jakarta - Israel once again launched a brutal attack on the Gaza Strip, Palestine, killing seven volunteers from celebrity chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen (WCK) on Monday (1/4/2024). The volunteers came from Australia, England, and Poland, as well as a US-Canadian dual citizens and a Palestinian.

Responding to the incident, Deputy Chairperson of the House Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP) Sukamta strongly condemned Israel's brutal actions that continue to kill humanitarian workers and journalists in Gaza, Palestine. According to Sukamta, Israel's actions have clearly violated international and humanitarian laws.

"Not only civilians, humanitarian volunteers and journalists also continue to be targets of killings. Israel uses the food blockade as a weapon of war. This is a sly tactic to slowly starve the Palestinian people in Gaza. With starvation, Israel wants to incite Palestinians against the freedom fighters. Unfortunately, this divide-and-conquer tactic has not been effective in dampening the spirit of resistance of the Palestinian people," he said in a statement to Parlementaria in Jakarta, Wednesday (3/4/2024).

“With starvation, Israel wants to incite Palestinians against the freedom fighters. Unfortunately, this divide-and-conquer tactic has not been effective in dampening the spirit of resistance of the Palestinian people”

Sukamta, who is also a member of the House Foreign Affairs Commission, criticized the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for not showing any real power. While the UNSC issued a resolution on Monday, 25 March 2024, for a ceasefire and permanent cessation of Israeli aggression, it has not been able to stop the killings that Israel carries out against civilians in Palestine.

"Israel has ignored the decision of the International Court, and now they don't care about the UNSC resolution. This is clearly an insult to an international institution. If the UNSC wants to maintain the dignity of the organization, concrete steps must be taken to stop Israel's brutality, and instruments to implement the resolution must be made available promptly," said the PKS Faction Politician.

Although it can be challenging, Sukamta asked the Indonesian government to continue to actively mobilize international support. He believes that diplomatic pressure and international isolation against Israel is something that needs to be encouraged. (hal/rdn/agl)