TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesian hospital in Gaza in its last hours amid Israel’s fuel blockade
The Indonesian Hospital in Gaza is now struggling with the limited amount of fuel it has and may be forced to shut down operations if a supply cannot come by the end of the week.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Indonesian hospital in Gaza as seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy of MER-C/mer-c.org)
A
lready overcrowded, short staffed and undersupplied, the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza has only around two days left until it is completely out of fuel and becomes non-operational.
But the opening of the city’s entry point from Egypt may provide hope for the health facility, as well as an opening for authorities to evacuate Indonesian nationals remaining in the war-torn area.
The hospital has been forced to treat some 200 patients with the last drops of fuel it has, while staff and patients alike have been increasingly unable to access food and clean water, according to the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), the volunteer organization that funds the hospital.
Since the fighting between Israeli armed forces and Palestinian militant group Hamas broke out on Oct. 7, the Indonesian Hospital has been swamped with patients two to three times more than it can hold.
“There are patients being treated on the floor,” MER-C presidium chairman Henry Hidayatullah told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. “We’re trying, but without electricity, we won’t be able to help them. Their conditions will worsen.”
Read also: Israel PM rejects Gaza ceasefire as 'surrender to Hamas'
The supply of basic necessities has been prevented from entering the city by Israel, causing disruptions to health facilities needed to treat wounded civilians. Up to 15 hospitals are reported to have shut down in the last three weeks, mostly due to water and fuel shortages on top of patient overcapacity.
