Southeast Asia countries urge powerful nations to use their influence to stop war in Gaza: Indonesian defence minister

JAKARTA: Several countries in Southeast Asia – including Indonesia and Malaysia – have urged the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza to stop and for influential countries to use their power to protect civilians, said Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto. 

“We asked all countries that have influence to immediately use their influence to stop actions against innocent people, unarmed civilian groups who are non-combatants, women, children, and (to) protect all infrastructures for civilians. 

“And they must not be the target of war. This is per international law. Humanitarian law,” said Mr Prabowo at a press conference on Thursday (Nov 16) on the second day of the 17th Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) in Jakarta.  

Defence ministers from the regional bloc – aside from Myanmar – met for the annual two-day meeting. They were joined by their eight dialogue partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States on the second day.

Mr Prabowo – who chaired the meeting as Indonesia is this year’s rotating chair of ASEAN – said that several ministers expressed their concerns over the war in Gaza and encouraged them to do everything to stop the violence there immediately.

A chairman’s statement on the situation in the Middle East released to the public later in the day said there is a pressing need for constructive dialogue to commence without delay, mentioning the situation in Gaza.

“The ADMM exchanged views and expressed deep concern over the deteriorating situation in Gaza,” the statement read.

An ASEAN statement released on the first day of the meeting did not mention Gaza. 

The chairman’s statement on Thursday further called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” to stop the violence there.

“(We urge) both parties to respect the sanctity of life and property, emphasising that the protection of all civilians, including ASEAN nationals, must be prioritised in times of conflict, and all hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally,” read the statement.

It added: “The meeting further called upon the United Nations, especially the Security Council, to take a more active role in preventing the further escalation of the conflict and averting a wider humanitarian disaster.” 

The statement also said the meeting supported the initiation of peace negotiations to achieve a two-state solution. 

Previous ASEAN defence ministers’ meetings mostly also produced a chairman’s statement but were usually not on a particular topic.