Latest news with #MER-C
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.'
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.'
Arab News
27-02-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza resumes inpatient services
JAKARTA: The Indonesia Hospital in northern Gaza has resumed inpatient services, the Jakarta-based NGO that funded it said on Thursday, as the facility races to resume full operations after repairs to the building and equipment that were destroyed by Israeli forces. The health facility in Beit Lahiya, funded by the Indonesian NGO Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, was one of the first sites hit when Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023. As relentless Israeli attacks pushed the enclave's healthcare system to the brink of collapse, the Indonesia Hospital stood as one of the last functioning health facilities in the north. Since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, the hospital has been gradually resuming essential services, with inpatient treatment being the latest. 'The Indonesia Hospital is resuming its operations to handle sick patients,' Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C's board of trustees in Jakarta, told Arab News. 'We hope to renovate and rebuild every part of the facility that was destroyed, as well as fully supply the hospital to meet all of the patients' needs.' Israeli forces targeted and heavily damaged most of the medical facilities in the Gaza Strip. The Indonesia Hospital was treating about 1,000 people at one point during Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed more than 48,300 people and injured over 111,000. Since last month, it has resumed services for emergencies, surgeries, radiology, laboratory, outpatient and inpatient treatments, and is now operating at 30 percent of full capacity 'Six months from the beginning of the ceasefire, we are aiming to reactivate essential services to reach at least 50 percent of full capacity,' Dr. Hadiki Habib, chairman of MER-C's executive committee, told Arab News. The Indonesia Hospital will be the main referral hospital in northern Gaza and some parts of Gaza City, after the former main referral hospital, Al-Shifa, was destroyed by Israeli siege and attacks. 'There is a great need for essential services,' Habib said. 'Over a year of displacement and limited access (to healthcare), many Palestinians with chronic illnesses need quality treatments.'
Arab News
06-02-2025
- Health
- Arab News
North Gaza's Indonesia Hospital resumes emergency services
JAKARTA: The Indonesia Hospital in north Gaza has resumed 24-hour emergency services, the NGO that funded it has said, as efforts are underway to start repairs to the hospital after it was severely damaged by Israeli forces. The hospital in Beit Lahiya, a four-story building located near the Jabalia refugee camp, was built from donations organized by the Jakarta-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee. Like other health care facilities in Gaza, it was severely damaged by Israeli attacks. But its round-the-clock emergency services have resumed this month at the request of the Gaza Ministry of Health, following the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to north Gaza since Jan. 27. 'As the only functioning hospital, Al-Awda, is not only full but overcrowded, the Gaza Ministry of Health has asked for the emergency department at the Indonesia Hospital to reopen,' Hadiki Habib, who heads MER-C's latest batch of emergency medical team in Gaza, said during a live-streamed press conference on Wednesday. 'So our emergency department resumed its 24-hours operation on Feb. 1, and we mainly take care of minor trauma cases … We hope to expand our services once essential repairs at the hospital are done.' Two specialist doctors and a nurse from the Indonesian medical team will be working alongside volunteer Palestinian doctors to provide services at the emergency department, Habib said, adding that many patients had infected wounds and injuries from Israeli attacks on Gaza, which were neglected before the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19. As Palestinians begin the process of rebuilding their homes destroyed by Israeli bombardment, doctors are also recording new injuries from cleaning up the rubble that now covers much of Gaza. 'North Gaza, which was heavily impacted by the war, certainly requires special care, particularly in terms of health care, and this will be our focus as our expertise is in emergency health care,' said Yogi Prabowo, chairman of MER-C's executive committee in Jakarta. 'We are also preparing to begin reparations and rebuilding of the Indonesia Hospital, including adding new facilities, such as buildings and health equipment.' The Indonesia Hospital was one of the first targets hit when Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023, during which 47,500 people have been killed and more than 111,000 injured. Israel frequently targeted medical facilities in the Gaza Strip, saying that they are used by Palestinian armed groups.
