Jakarta, IO – The government is having difficulty evacuating Indonesian citizens in the Gaza Strip, Palestine as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to rage.
“Efforts are being made to evacuate our citizens in Gaza every day. However, as the situation is still very difficult, the evacuation cannot be carried out yet,” said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
Retno said her ministry has continued to communicate with representatives of Indonesian citizens in Gaza, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and foreign ministers from a number of Middle Eastern countries to discuss the evacuation efforts.
Last week, Indonesia managed to evacuate four citizens from the West Bank. It was carried out for two days by land from the safe house in Jerusalem via Amman, Jordan. They arrived safely in the motherland on Sunday (15/10).
Currently, there are 136 Indonesian citizens in the West Bank and surrounding areas. They chose to remain in their respective locations. Meanwhile, in Gaza, there are 10 Indonesian citizens who are trapped.
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The armed conflict was triggered on October 7 after Hamas launched unprecedented attacks against Israel. The situation became even more chaotic after the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Palestine was hit by a rocket attack, killing hundreds. Civilian casualties from the conflict have been mounting. More than 4,200 Palestinians and Israelis have been killed in the past 10 days since the outbreak of the war (un)