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Arab News
3 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
Indonesian NGOs demand Israel be held accountable over atrocities in Gaza
JAKARTA: Indonesian civil society organizations are urging the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks on Gaza, as Tel Aviv's latest military onslaught on the besieged enclave pushed the territory's healthcare system to the brink of collapse. All hospitals in northern Gaza were out of service as of Friday, according to Jakarta-based NGO Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, which funds the Indonesia Hospital located in the Gazan city of Beit Lahiya. Al-Awda Hospital — the only remaining facility providing health services in north Gaza — evacuated its patients on Thursday following orders from the Israeli military, which launched a wave of new attacks earlier this month across the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of people and forcing most public facilities in the area to close. 'Even after various condemnations and warnings, Israel the colonizer continues to commit crimes across the Gaza Strip,' said Dr. Hadiki Habib, chairman of MER-C's executive committee. 'MER-C's stance is in line with the Indonesian constitution, in which we do not recognize colonization in any shape or form … Israel's colonization and crimes against humanity (in Gaza) must be held accountable at the international level.' Indonesia is a staunch supporter of Palestine, and sees Palestinian statehood as being mandated by its own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism. The Indonesia Hospital was one of the first targets hit when Israel began its assault on Gaza, in which it regularly targets medical facilities. Attacks on health centers, medical personnel and patients constitute war crimes under the 1949 Geneva Convention. Israel's latest offensive comes after a two-month blockade on the enclave after Tel Aviv unilaterally broke a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas in March. It is a continuation of Israel's onslaught of Gaza that began in October 2023 and has killed more than 54,300 Palestinians and wounded more than 124,000. The deadly attacks have also put 2 million more at risk of starvation after Israeli forces destroyed most of the region's infrastructure and buildings and blocked humanitarian aid. Aid only recently began to enter the besieged territory, although only in limited quantities. 'The suffering of the people is massive due to starvation, and there is limited aid because of the blockade,' Habib said. 'A humanitarian crisis must not be used as a transactional tool. Stop this war and open the food blockade in Gaza. We will continue to voice this demand.' Various scholars and human rights organizations have said that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, including Amnesty International and the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention. 'Zionist Israel's crimes in Gaza must be held accountable. They must be put on trial and punished for genocide. There is no longer doubt that their crimes constitute genocide,' Muhammad Anshorullah, who heads the executive committee of the Jakarta-based Aqsa Working Group, told Arab News on Saturday. 'Netanyahu's regime must be arrested, tried and punished, just like how the Allied powers arrested, tried and punished Nazi elites through the Nuremberg Trials. There is nothing more urgent globally aside from stopping the genocide in Gaza.'
Arab News
20-05-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza nears collapse after renewed Israeli strikes
Jakarta: The Indonesia Hospital, one of the last partially functional medical centers in northern Gaza, is nearing collapse after days of Israeli strikes on its key infrastructure, the Jakarta-based nongovernmental organization funding the facility said on Tuesday. The hospital in Beit Lahiya, a four-story building located near the Jabalia refugee camp, was built from donations organized by the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee. Like other healthcare facilities in Gaza, it has been targeted by Israel's new military onslaught on the besieged enclave, in which hundreds of people were killed in the past three days. 'A quadcopter targeted the hospital's generators. Two of them were destroyed in the ensuing fire. Our water supply has been disrupted, and people aren't able to enter or exit the hospital area because there's a risk of being shot,' Dr. Hadiki Habib, chairman of MER-C's executive committee, told Arab News. At least 31 people were trapped inside the Indonesia Hospital as of Tuesday morning, including eight health workers and bedridden patients. The Indonesia Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital are the only two hospitals still treating patients in northern Gaza, Habib added, as Israeli attacks have forced most public hospitals in the area out of service. Israel launched a new ground operation, called Operation Gideon's Chariots, across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, following over two months of total blockade on the enclave after Tel Aviv unilaterally broke a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas in March. But Israeli forces have carried out brutal attacks in hundreds of locations across Gaza in the lead-up to the operation, killing hundreds of Palestinians. The latest offensive comes as Israel continues its onslaught of Gaza that began in October 2023 and has killed more than 53,400 Palestinians and wounded over 121,000 more. The deadly attacks have also pushed 2 million others to starvation after Israeli forces destroyed most of the region's infrastructure and buildings and blocked humanitarian aid. It was only on Monday that Israel's military said it allowed five aid trucks into Gaza, though according to the UN, the enclave needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods every day. 'It's very sad and heartbreaking. The Indonesia Hospital is barely functioning. All logistics needs have been blocked by Israel and there are threats against healthcare workers to leave and empty the facility,' Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C's board of trustees in Jakarta, told Arab News. The Indonesia Hospital was one of the first targets hit when Israel began its assault on Gaza, in which it regularly targets medical facilities. Attacks on health centers, medical personnel and patients constitute war crimes under the 1949 Geneva Convention. 'There is no place left that is safe from Israel's pursuit,' Murad said. 'For the sake of humanity, the international community must pressure Israel to agree to a ceasefire so that we can stop this humanitarian tragedy.'
