“The Indonesian government and people convey our deepest condolences and solidarity to the Palestinian people demonstrating on the border of Gaza and Israel,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Jakarta says that Israel is obliged to protect civilians as stipulated under international human rights law.

It calls for a thorough investigation into the “disproportional use of violence” by Israel and for its results to be made public.

“Indonesia reiterated that the impacts of violence and atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers will threaten peace efforts in Palestine and the Middle East,” the statement says.

Israeli security forces used a drone to fire tear gas toward those along the border, in one of the first uses of the device, a police spokesman said as quoted by AFP.

The health ministry in Gaza said 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. More than 1,400 were injured, including 758 by live fire, with the remainder injured by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation, it said.

Protesters were demanding that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948 be allowed to return, according to AFP.

The demonstration is planned to last six weeks, until the inauguration of the new US embassy in Jerusalem around May 14. (ahw)

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