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PKB calls for peace in the Middle East amid escalating conflict
Party chairman Muhaimin Iskandar said he condemned the brutal act of war and called on Indonesian Muslims to promote peace in the Middle East.
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National Awakening Party chair Muhaimin Iskandar (left) waves to the press upon arriving at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in Jakarta on Sept. 7, 2023. (Antara/M. Risyal Hidayat)
The National Awakening Party (PKB) has appealed for peace and humanitarian action to end the conflict in the Middle East triggered by the Israel-Hamas war.
PKB chairman and vice presidential candidate Muhaimin Iskandar said the consequences of the war would affect global humanity and therefore he urged Israel and Hamas to immediately seek a consensus and cease-fire.
“I specifically call on both parties to release all civilian hostages consisting of children, women, the elderly and babies,” he said in a statement.
Muhaimin said he condemned the brutal act of war and called on Indonesian Muslims to promote peace in the Middle East.
The war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas broke out after the group conducted a series of attacks from the Gaza Strip on bordering areas in Israel on Oct. 7, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israel, with hundreds taken hostage.
Israel has retaliated with an indiscriminate bombardment and a ground invasion of Gaza, killing 14,000 people, at least 5,500 of whom are children.
The Indonesian government, along with other countries, has campaigned for a cease-fire and has sent aid to Gaza.
Israel's government and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a four-day pause in fighting to allow the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
Officials from Qatar, which has been mediating secret negotiations, as well as the United States, Israel and Hamas have for days been saying a deal is imminent.
A long-time politician and a member of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s largest Muslim organization, Muhaimin is running in the presidential election on Feb. 14, alongside former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan.
Led by the NasDem Party, the alliance of political parties that supports Anies-Muhaimin has presented itself as an opposition group that seeks a change from the current government under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
