Jakarta. Indonesia once again urged for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while stressing that Israel's barbaric actions are not an act of self-defense.

Leaders of Muslim-majority and Arab countries gathered Saturday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh for an emergency summit on the Gaza crisis. During the meeting, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called for a ceasefire, saying that the situation would not improve without such a truce.

“Israel has used the self-defense narrative and continues to murder civilians. This is nothing but a collective punishment. We must all find a way for Israel to immediately conduct a ceasefire,” Jokowi said at the joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh.

Jokowi told the forum that the world had appeared to be “helpless” as a month had passed since the Israeli aggression had escalated. 

“More than 7.9 billion people in the world, more than 190 world leaders. But yet until now, not one person is able to stop these atrocities. For that reason, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation [OIC] must stay united and be at the forefront to resolve this problem,” he said.

According to Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, the summit adopted a 31-point resolution. Retno claimed that most of the participants agreed that this was the “strongest-worded resolution” that the OIC had ever come up with. Retno also zeroed in on Paragraph 11 of the resolution.

“In this paragraph, the leaders have mandated the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye, Indonesia, and Nigeria to initiate actions --on behalf of the OIC and the Arab League-- to stop the war in Gaza, and start a political process to achieve peace,” Retno said in a press statement following the summit.

“Paragraph 11 shows OIC’s recognition of Indonesia’s active contribution in trying to address the Palestine issue, particularly in regards to the recent Gaza situation,” Retno said.

Jokowi also spoke with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the summit, according to Retno.

“President Abbas truly appreciated Indonesia’s consistency in supporting Palestine’s struggles. He also asked President Jokowi to relay a message to US President Joe Biden in their upcoming talks,” the diplomat said.

Jokowi and Biden are scheduled to have a bilateral meeting in Washington DC on Monday.

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