Australia, Indonesia urge securing ‘humanitarian access’ to Gaza

Australia and Indonesia urged securing "greater humanitarian access to Gaza," Canberra's top diplomat said Saturday.

"Australia and Indonesia agree on the need to secure greater humanitarian access to Gaza, and to prevent the conflict from widening," Penny Wong wrote on X.

Retno Marsudi, Indonesia's foreign minister, said during a telephone call, the two sides discussed the situation in Gaza and the importance of safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to save lives.

Wong made the call after Australia abstained Friday on a UN General Assembly resolution that called for an immediate "durable and sustained humanitarian truce" in Gaza.

Indonesia welcomed the resolution that demands a "humanitarian truce" in the Gaza Strip.

"Indonesia welcomes the adoption of UNGA Resolution on 'Protection of Civilians and Upholding Legal and Humanitarian Obligations' in Gaza," the Foreign Ministry wrote on X.

Indonesia was one of the co-sponsors of the resolution which was presented by nearly 50 countries, including Türkiye, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was approved by a vote of 120-14, with 45 nations abstaining.