Latest news with #MER-C
Asia News Network
04-07-2025
- Health
- Asia News Network
Director of Indonesia Hospital in Gaza killed in Israeli airstrike
July 4, 2025 JAKARTA – The government and volunteer organizations have condemned the attacks that led to the death of Dr. Marwan al-Sultan, director of the Indonesia Hospital in Gaza, who was killed along with his wife and children by an Israeli airstrike that hit their house in the western part of the enclave. 'Our hearts are filled with sorrow, and words cannot express the magnitude of this loss,' a local volunteer of the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) in Gaza said in a post uploaded by the group on its Instagram account on Wednesday. The volunteer group funds the operation of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza. 'May Allah have mercy on their souls, grant them the best place in heaven and give fortitude to all who knew and loved them,' he went on to say. Marwan, an interventional cardiologist, and his family were among the casualties of a bombing by the Israeli military targeting residential areas and a school in Gaza on Wednesday, as reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA. At least seven Palestinians were killed in the airstrike, with all casualties brought to Al-Shifa Medical Complex. Marwan has been working as a doctor at the Indonesia Hospital in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza since 2016, tending to the sick and wounded in the city. The hospital itself has been bombarded several times during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip that also targeted medical facilities in the area. In May, drone assaults inflicted severe structural damage to the hospital and disrupted critical medical services in its intensive care units. Despite Israel's continuous attacks and resources shortage, Marwan 'relentlessly led the Indonesia Hospital under grave circumstances' to provide essential medical services to the Palestinians, MER-C wrote in a statement. The group worked with Marwan to restore emergency services and full operations of the hospital between January and March. The volunteer group condemned the killing of the doctor and his family, calling the act 'a flagrant violation of humanitarian principles and a grave act of injustice that must be held accountable,' MER-C wrote. Responding to the death, the Foreign Ministry extended its condolences over Marwan's death and condemned the Israeli military's attack on the hospital director and his family. 'Indonesia appreciates [Marwan's] service, commitment and struggle for the sake of humanity and peace in Palestine,' the ministry wrote on its official X account on Thursday. It added that Indonesia would continue to repeat its call for the end of Israel's atrocities and a ceasefire in Palestine, while continuing to closely monitor the situation around the operation of the Indonesia Hospital in Gaza. Indonesia has been a fervent ally of the Palestinian cause, with President Prabowo Subianto stating that the country would 'continue to stand with Palestine' during a Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC) in Jakarta in May. The President reiterated his support during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, where he and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman condemned Israel's policy of using humanitarian aid blockades and hunger as weapons against civilians in the Gaza Strip. Both leaders also rejected in a joint statement the forced relocation of Palestinians inside and outside their homeland, asserting that peace and stability in Palestine could only be reached through the two-state solution approach. Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war since October 2023 has created dire humanitarian conditions and displaced nearly all of the territory's population of more than two million. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to eradicate Hamas, whose 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war, even after the Palestinian militant group said it was studying new proposals for a ceasefire from mediators, AFP reported.
Arab News
03-07-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Shock in Jakarta, MPs demand action after Israel assassinates Indonesian hospital director
JAKARTA/DUBAI: Israel's assassination of Dr. Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, has sparked shock in Jakarta, with parliamentarians calling for new international accountability mechanisms to hold Israel legally responsible for its crimes in Gaza. A renowned cardiac surgeon and one of Palestine's most senior doctors, Dr. Al-Sultan graduated from Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences in Hyderabad, Pakistan, in 2001. He was killed along with his wife and children in an Israeli airstrike on their temporary residence in northern Gaza on Wednesday. His surviving daughter, Lubna, told the media that the missile 'targeted his room exactly, right where he was.' Her testimony confirmed statements from the Gaza Ministry of Health and the Jakarta-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee — which funded the Indonesia Hospital in Beit Lahia — that the attack was a targeted assassination. 'The attack on Dr. Marwan was utterly savage and barbaric,' Dr. Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C's board of trustees, told Arab News. 'It was a shock to hear the news. I couldn't believe it. He was the only heart specialist left in the north. This is a huge loss.' The Indonesia Hospital in Beit Lahia, one of the biggest health facilities in Gaza, was one of the first targeted by Israel when it started its deadly war on the Palestinian enclave in October 2023. Dr. Al-Sultan had never left his post, remaining with patients through multiple Israeli offensives on the hospital and personally overseeing repairs to restore essential services, MER-C said in a statement recalling how in December 2024, he evacuated the facility while under Israeli siege. The moment was recorded on a mobile phone, showing Dr. Al-Sultan leaving only after he had ensured the safety of every patient. The Indonesia Hospital opened in late 2015. Coordinated by MER-C, its construction and equipment were financed from donations of the Indonesian people, with dozens of engineers and builders volunteering to design and build the facility and to prepare its operations. The killing of Dr. Al-Sultan has spurred outcry in Indonesia, with the government issuing an official condemnation and lawmakers from the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation calling on parliamentarians around the world to 'push for international accountability mechanisms' to ensure that 'crimes against humanity be immediately brought to international forums, including global parliamentary bodies, so that Israel can be held legally and morally accountable for its actions in Gaza.' Israel has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 133,000 others, since October 2023. The true death toll is feared to be much higher, with research published in The Lancet medical journal in January estimating an underreporting of deaths by 41 percent. The study says the death toll may be even higher, as it does not include deaths caused by starvation, injury and lack of access to health care, caused by the Israeli military's destruction of most of Gaza's infrastructure and the blocking of medical and food aid. Data from the UN and international health organizations shows that Israel has killed at least 492 doctors and medics in Gaza since October 2023. Dr. Al-Sultan is the 70th health care worker to be killed in the last 50 days, according to Healthcare Workers Watch. 'He was a prominent medical figure, both as a heart specialist and director of the Indonesia Hospital,' Dr. Hadiki Habib, chairman of MER-C's executive committee, told Arab News. 'We had feared that this could happen, but he had said that he would remain in Gaza and, if he were to be martyred, it would be in his homeland.'
Arab News
31-05-2025
- 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.'
Arab News
02-03-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Jakarta NGO sends off new batch of medics to volunteer at Gaza hospital
JAKARTA: A new group of Indonesian medics is on their way to Gaza to volunteer at the Indonesia Hospital, the Jakarta-based nongovernmental organization that assembled the team said on Sunday, as uncertainties loom over the second phase of the ceasefire. The Indonesian NGO Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, or MER-C, has been organizing teams of doctors and nurses since last March, as part of emergency deployments led by the World Health Organization. The latest batch, comprising two general practitioners, a nurse, an anesthesiologist and a midwife, departed Jakarta on Saturday and is expected to enter Gaza in the next couple of days. 'They will be stationed at the Indonesia Hospital, as the facility has resumed operations,' Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C's board of trustees in Jakarta, told Arab News on Sunday. 'Gaza is in need of different kinds of doctors, as the number of victims and the availability of local doctors are disproportionate.' MER-C has so far sent 45 volunteers to Gaza as part of its emergency medical teams, which previously comprised other specialists, including internists and surgeons. The Indonesia Hospital — a facility that was funded and opened by MER-C in late 2015 — was one of the first sites hit when Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023. Since the first phase of the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, the hospital has also been gradually resuming essential services, from surgeries to emergency and inpatient services, as it worked to reach at least 50 percent of full capacity by July. For nurse Ade Andrian, a member of MER-C's latest emergency medical team, the opportunity to volunteer in Gaza was a long time coming, having first registered in 2023, a couple of months after Israel began its latest assault on the enclave. 'Praise be to God that today I have been given the chance to join the EMT to be a part of the humanitarian mission for the people of Gaza,' Andrian said. However, as the first stage of the ceasefire ended without agreement on continuing into a second phase and Israel moved to block entry of all humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the latest developments are sparking concerns. 'The blocking of humanitarian aid will not only impact the Indonesia Hospital but also all the other hospitals in Gaza and also the residents of the enclave,' MER-C's Murad said. 'We hope that Israel will soon continue with the ceasefire deal according to what was agreed. If this is violated, then we fear another massive wave of civilian loss.'
