By Rana Setiawan, Journalist for Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Observer of Palestinian Issues
As the death toll in Gaza surpasses 50,000, and with over 115,000 injuries reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the world must ask itself: how many more Palestinian children must starve to death before meaningful international action is taken?
Indonesia, under the leadership of President-elect Prabowo Subianto, has recently taken a commendable step by proposing the evacuation of 1,000 injured Palestinians from Gaza for medical treatment in Indonesia. While this initiative should be appreciated for its humanitarian intent, it is, unfortunately, a symbolic gesture in the face of a deep and relentless genocide.
The urgency in Gaza demands far more than compassion. It demands bold, immediate political action.
Also Read: Killing by Machine: How AI and Digital Platforms Are Involved in the Gaza Genocide
A Humanitarian Catastrophe Beyond Words
Since Israel launched its military campaign on October 7, 2023, the Gaza Strip has been turned into an open-air graveyard. Entire neighborhoods have been wiped off the map. Children, journalists, medical workers, and the elderly have been killed indiscriminately. Civilian infrastructure has been decimated, including hospitals, schools, and UN shelters.
According to a July 2024 publication by The Lancet, the actual death toll may exceed 186,000, considering deaths from hunger, disease, and untreated injuries. What is happening in Gaza is not collateral damage. It is a systematic attempt to annihilate a people. It is genocide, and it is ongoing.
In such a context, offering medical treatment to a few thousand victims does not address the root of the problem. It is akin to offering umbrellas during a nuclear strike. The core issue is not just humanitarian, it is political. Gaza does not merely need medicine. Gaza needs the killing to stop.
Also Read: The Historical Pattern of Zionist Betrayal (By: Imaam Yakhsyallah Mansur)
The Israeli offensive, backed by sophisticated military technology and international impunity, has pushed Gaza to the brink of uninhabitability. Israeli forces have been documented targeting not only fighters but also civilians, journalists, paramedics, and aid workers. Entire families have been erased in a single airstrike.
Moral Leadership Is Being Tested
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country and a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause since its independence, has both the moral and political obligation to lead in condemning and acting against these atrocities.
President Prabowo’s tour of five key Middle Eastern countries, UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Jordan, comes at a crucial moment. It must be more than diplomatic routine. It must be the beginning of a coordinated strategy to put a definitive end to Israel’s military aggression.
Also Read: Indonesian Muslim Community in Japan Shares Kindness During Ramadan
What Gaza needs today is not merely global sympathy or diplomatic statements. What it needs is real action, firm, sustained, and morally grounded. Indonesia, with its long history of anti-colonial struggle and moral authority in the Muslim world, must take the lead in promoting concrete steps to stop the genocide.
We must call for and implement the following actions:
Sever all diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.
It is no longer sufficient to condemn from afar while maintaining indirect relations. Economic disengagement, such as trade embargoes and divestments, is a powerful non-violent tool to pressure a regime committing crimes against humanity.
Also Read: The History of the Jews is a History of Defeat
Ensure safe and effective entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Current aid convoys face obstruction, delays, or even attacks. Indonesia must work with international agencies and neighboring countries to establish protected humanitarian corridors, and if necessary, lead a coalition of nations to guarantee their security.
Urge the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Muslim-majority states to declare a clear red line.
This red line must include an immediate cessation of hostilities and a halt to all forms of aggression against civilians. If Israel crosses it again, coordinated international pressure, political, legal, and economic must follow without hesitation.
Also Read: Halal Certification Costs and Delays, Here’s Why?
Mobilize the Global South into a united anti-genocide political front.
Many countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia share a colonial past and understand the suffering of oppressed peoples. Now is the time to build a South-South alliance that goes beyond statements and supports tangible mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable.
Furthermore, Indonesia must encourage the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to adopt a stronger, unified stance. It is time for Muslim-majority nations to move from rhetoric to resistance diplomatic, legal, and economic.
This is not only about Palestine. This is about the moral direction of the world. About ensuring that international law means something. About proving that we, as a global community, are not indifferent to suffering, especially when it is as preventable and deliberate as what we see in Gaza.
Also Read: Celebrating International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace with Indonesia Identity
The International Momentum Is There Use It
Several nations have begun to take unprecedented steps. South Africa has filed a genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. Bolivia has severed diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv. Ireland and Scotland have consistently voiced support for Palestine. The Hague Group, comprising Malaysia, Senegal, Chile, and others has demanded tangible sanctions and accountability.
More importantly, the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is no longer a free man on the world stage. His travel is restricted to countries that do not honor the Rome Statute. Israel, for the first time, is facing real legal consequences.
Now is the time for Indonesia to join that legal and political pressure. Indonesia should support and amplify such efforts, rather than only focusing on bilateral or regional diplomacy. The window for ending this genocide is narrowing.
Also Read: The Corruption Paradox in a Religious Nation
From Non-Aligned to Actively Moral
Indonesia’s long-held principle of a “free and active” foreign policy, famously articulated by the country’s founding father, Sukarno, was never meant to be passive neutrality. It was a call to take sides with justice, to actively resist colonialism and oppression wherever it occurs.
Gaza today is a reminder that colonialism is not a thing of the past. The Israeli occupation is a modern apartheid, well-documented by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. And the violence in Gaza is its most brutal expression.
As such, neutrality is not an option. Silence is complicity.
Also Read: 17 South Korean Youths Embrace Islam at the Start of Ramadan
In 2005, the United Nations adopted the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) doctrine, which compels the international community to intervene diplomatically, legally, or even militarily if a state is unwilling or unable to prevent genocide or mass atrocities within its borders.
Gaza qualifies under all criteria of R2P. The civilian population is unprotected. The government of Israel is the perpetrator. And the global community, thus far, has failed to respond adequately.
Indonesia, together with its regional and global partners, should push for R2P to be invoked at the United Nations and explore diplomatic channels for collective intervention.
As Muslims around the world continue to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in the spirit of hope, unity, and justice, we must remember those in Gaza who are being buried instead of feasting. For them, hope alone is a luxury. They need the world to act.
Also Read: Five Best Foods for Breaking the Fast
Indonesia must lead with more than sympathy. We must lead with principle. The evacuation of victims is humane. But the prevention of further deaths is far more urgent.
The Palestinian people are watching. The world is watching. History will record who stood silent and who stood up. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
Also Read: Ramadan in Japan: Diversity in the Warmth of Faith
Mina Indonesia
Mina Arabic
Mina Sport