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Indonesian volunteers stay in Gaza to provide emergency medical support

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Indonesian volunteers stay in Gaza to provide emergency medical support​

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Palestinian rescuers work at the site of Israeli strikes, in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, Oct. 9, 2023. (Reuters)

Monday . October 16, 2023

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Remaining medical facilities were left overwhelmed as the bombardment continued on Tuesday, prompting Indonesian NGO Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, or MER-C, which runs a hospital in Gaza, to keep its staff on the ground and prepare to send more volunteers to help.

“(They) will stay in Gaza to provide emergency support at this crucial time ... they are not only MER-C volunteers, but also representatives of the Indonesian people to Palestine to provide help where it is needed by the Palestinians,” Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C’s executive committee, told reporters in Jakarta.

“The main goal of the team is to convey the support of the Indonesian people through medical and humanitarian help.”

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is a staunch supporter of Palestine, and its people and authorities see Palestinian statehood as mandated by their own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism.

The Indonesia Hospital, located just outside Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, was established by MER-C in 2015 using donations from Indonesian citizens.

As of Monday, the hospital was already over capacity and even its morgue lacked the space to handle the bodies of new airstrike victims due to “a surge of casualties from Israeli attacks,” Murad said.

MER-C officials were coordinating with the Indonesian government to dispatch more volunteers under its humanitarian diplomacy framework.

Indonesia also joined widespread calls for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor, as Gaza’s under-equipped hospitals scrambled to treat the wounded.

“The current focus of the Indonesian government is on the humanitarian situation, particularly pushing for efforts to cease the escalation of violence and avoid more civilian casualties,” Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters.

“The Indonesian Foreign Minister continues to communicate with a number of countries and international organizations in working towards a cessation of violence.”

 
Those who have family come back, some are still staying though in Gaza

At least one family is evacuated by Indonesia gov from Gaza

 
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Indonesia are ready to send all of its military Hospital Ships (not just one) to waters near Gaza, currently under negotiation with related countries. If Palestinians want to be evacuated outside, the ships can be used as well.

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Indonesia offers to send hospital ship to Palestine​


16 hours ago

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Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said he has submitted an offer to send a hospital ship to Palestine to help those in need of medical treatment amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

Speaking to journalists after receiving a courtesy call from the Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Zuhair Al-Shun here on Monday, Subianto informed that he had discussed the offer more deeply with the ambassador.

He said he had also reported the Defense Ministry's plan to send the hospital ship to President Joko Widodo and coordinated it with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

He disclosed that he will also coordinate the plan to send the hospital ship to Palestine with the Egyptian Ambassador in Jakarta about the detailed delivery procedure for the hospital ship.

Subianto said he had also told Palestine that all Indonesian military hospitals would welcome Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip who need medical treatment.

He informed that he has been coordinating with related parties to determine ways to get those in need of medical treatment to Indonesian military hospitals.

Subianto further said that 22 Palestinian cadets have arrived at Indonesia's Defense University to pursue undergraduate programs, including medicine and engineering, for five years.

"We officially receive them on Tuesday evening," he added.

In response to Indonesia's offer, Ambassador Al-Shun thanked the government and the people of Indonesia for their support and assistance for Palestine.

He said he had discussed the latest situation in Palestine and ways to put an immediate end to Israel's brutal killings of Palestinian civilians.

Ambassador Al-Shun also expressed gratitude for Indonesia's offer to send a hospital ship as well as for the opportunity it has given to 22 Palestinian cadets to study at Indonesia's Defense University.

Fresh armed conflict broke out between Palestine and Israel again following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel early in the morning of October 7, 2023.

Prior to the assault by Palestinian liberation fighters, Israel had continued its closure of Gaza crossings.

Palestine's news agency WAFA reported on September 25 that the Israeli closure of Gaza crossings had worsened the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to WAFA, the Palestinians had already suffered from the severe impacts of "more than 17 years of tight Israeli land, sea, and air blockades."

Al Jazeera quoted Hamas, which governs Gaza, as stating that its assault on Israel was "a response to the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence."

In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and, according to Al Jazeera, pledged that the Israeli forces would "turn all Hamas hideouts into rubble."

The ongoing Israeli campaign in the Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million people, has resulted in the deaths of several thousand Palestinian civilians and prompted a humanitarian crisis.

 

Gaza War Victims Rising, Indonesian Hospital Uses Parking Lots to Treat Victims​


7 November 2023 06:18 WIB

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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Medical volunteer organization Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) has reported that the Indonesian-Palestinian Hospital is using vehicle parking lots and yards to treat war victims of Israeli military attacks in Indonesian Hospital in Gaza Faces Medicine Shortage.

The continued influx of a large number of victims has prompted the Indonesian Hospital management to use outdoor spaces, president of the MER-C Indonesia presidium, Farid Thalib, said in Jakarta on Monday, November 6, 2023.

During an emergency, the Indonesian Hospital has the capacity to admit up to 800 people and accommodate 235 beds.

"Meanwhile, the latest information is that the number of people being treated continues to increase, to the point where almost 5,000 people are currently being treated in the Indonesian Hospital parking lot, including refugees," Thalib informed.

MER-C Indonesia confirmed that 60–80 percent of the victims treated at the Indonesian Hospital have consisted of children and women with moderate to serious injuries.

He said that the increase in the number of patients is expected since the Indonesian Hospital is the only mainstay health service, especially in North Gaza.

The Indonesian government has been providing consistent humanitarian support for the victims. On Sunday (November 5, 2023), it distributed 7 tons of medical equipment to Palestinians who were victims of the conflict in Gaza.

The medical equipment assistance included equipment such as emergency kits for minor surgical needs as well as food for pregnant women and children aged under five.

"This includes clothes for health workers and two washing machines, which are also needed by Indonesian Hospital," Thalib said.

Besides the reliability of medical services provided by the Indonesian and Palestinian governments, which has continued to be improved, hospital security must also be ensured for humanitarian reasons, he added.

This is because the management of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza informed that it had been attacked and bombed by the Israeli military since early October 2023, which resulted in the death of 2 workers.

 
Meeting with Egypt Ambassador about Indonesia's plan to send Hospital ships to waters near Gaza.

 
Palestinians will get education in our defense university, the first comer will be 22 Palestinians first. The target is to graduates 22 Palestinians in our defense university every year, so there will be continuous Palestinians students come to Indonesia every year. There is plan to increase the graduate into 48 Palestinians every year.


 
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At least Three Indonesian medical volunteers potentially Syahid.
 
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