Indonesia, spearheading the UN Conference on Disarmament as its current president, has issued a fervent call to cease military support and arms trade with Israel.
The UN Conference on Disarmament, boasting 65 member states inclusive of permanent UN Security Council members, serves as the premier global platform for negotiations on disarmament. Established in 1979, it remains unparalleled in its multilateral approach to disarmament talks.
Assuming the rotating presidency for a four-week term until March 15, Indonesia has taken the lead in the conference's high-level proceedings in Geneva this week. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi of Indonesia, during the ministerial-level discussions, unequivocally demanded an end to arms deliveries to Israel.
In a video briefing on Tuesday, Marsudi articulated, “At the end of my statement, I conveyed condemnation of Israel’s plan to use nuclear weapons to threaten the residents of Gaza. I also urged a stop to weapons shipment to Israel to prevent more fatalities.”
Marsudi further emphasized these concerns during her participation in a Palestine-focused side event in Geneva. Here, she underscored Israel’s violations of human rights in Gaza and the imperative of combatting double standards within the international community.
"Given the current situation in Gaza and Palestine, I posed the question: will we remain silent? Ideally, the answer should be no... In conclusion, I stressed the necessity of unity and ongoing collaborative efforts to combat the longstanding injustices against the Palestinian people," Marsudi asserted.
The Gaza Strip has witnessed a dire humanitarian crisis, with nearly 30,000 Palestinians killed since October and approximately 1.9 million displaced. Relentless Israeli bombardment from air, land, and sea has persisted over the past four months.
On February 23, UN experts issued a call for an immediate cessation of arms exports to Israel, emphasizing the foreseeable use of such weapons to breach international law.
"In light of past behaviors and patterns, any transfers of arms or ammunition to Israel would likely result in violations of international law," the UN experts warned.
The experts stressed the heightened need for an arms embargo on Israel, citing the International Court of Justice's recent ruling in January 2024, which identified a credible risk of genocide in Gaza and ongoing severe harm to civilians.
"All states must avoid complicity in international crimes through arms transfers and must play their part in urgently addressing the unyielding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," the experts concluded.
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