Addressing more than 120 representatives from 47 participating countries at the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Sugiono lamented the proliferation of conflicts and humanitarian emergencies worldwide, singling out Palestine as reports of violence continue to emerge from the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

“With regard to the people of Palestine, Indonesia reaffirms its unwavering support for their inalienable rights,” Sugiono said.

“We continue to call for an immediate end to violence, rapid, full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, [as well as] a credible pathway toward a just and lasting peace based on a two-state solution, [as] upholding international humanitarian law is our collective obligation,” he added. 

International concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza cast a heavy shadow over Geneva as the week-long rights talks began on Monday, with scores of officials and delegates warning that conditions in the Palestinian enclave remained “catastrophic” nearly five months after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. 

Despite the United States insisting that progress was being made in the enclave, including through security discussions with key actors, UN rapporteurs reported continued indiscriminate attacks by Israeli forces and severe shortages of basic amenities in Gaza. The latest Israeli legislative measures in the West Bank have also caused global ire amid concerns of further entrenchment.

Speaking at the opening of the rights talks in Geneva, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lamented the situation in Palestine, condemning what he described as “blatant violations of human rights, human dignity and international law in the occupied Palestinian territory”.

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