Three Indonesian volunteers on a humanitarian mission to deliver critical assistance in the Gaza Strip have pledged to remain in the blockaded Palestinian territory amid the ongoing Israeli assault, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi revealed on Friday, as a state-led evacuation operation entered its third day with partial success.

The siege on Gaza, which began nearly a month ago as a brutal response to an attack by the local ruling militant group Hamas, has severely complicated the evacuation of foreign nationals, due to indiscriminate bombing on an area that has been dubbed the world's largest open-air prison. This includes attempts by Indonesia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, to rescue 10 citizens and their Palestinian family members.

Speaking to the press on Friday, Retno announced that a family of five headed by Abdillah Onim, 44, had been successfully evacuated to Egypt overland from Gaza with the help of a team from the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Yvette Tanamal (The Jakarta Post)

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