The fourth batch comprises 25 medical workers, including surgeons, nurses, internists, pharmacists and anesthetists, as well as orthopedic, radiology and medical rehabilitation specialists, the Defense Ministry said in a press statement on Thursday.

The team is led by Col. Komang Agus Wirawan and was seen off from the Defense Ministry by Defense Deputy Minister Donny Ermawan.

“This mission is a noble duty as a form of service for humanity. You will help people who desperately need assistance,” Donny told the medical workers, as quoted by the statement.

“Not everyone has the opportunity to go on a mission like this.”

Donny said the mission was a direct initiative from President Prabowo Subianto, who would intensely monitor its implementation.

​The fourth batch will replace the third batch whose deployment began on April 16 and who will soon return home.

Currently, the third batch is based at the United Arab Emirates floating hospital in Al Arish, Egypt. They have treated 7,247 patients and conducted 131 surgeries during their mission.

The fourth batch will be stationed at a field hospital in the Palestinian border town of Rafah, in addition to the Emirati floating hospital.

The team flew to Abu Dhabi for a duty handover with their predecessors, and will return home in December.

Indonesia has conducted several measures to assist Palestinian victims of the Israeli assault, especially in Gaza.

​In January 2024, the Navy sent the KRI Dr. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat hospital ship on a 52-day round-trip to El-Arish, which borders the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

The initial plan was to deploy the hospital ship to treat injured Palestinians but the Egyptian authorities did not give clearance and only provided a short window for the ship’s crew to unload its 242 tonnes of humanitarian aid.  

In April, the Air Force sent a C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft in an airdrop mission to deliver 3,200 kilograms of food and medicine.

More recently, two Hercules carrying 66 personnel from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Alms Agency (Baznas) were sent to airdrop humanitarian aid over Gaza. The two aircraft departed from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base on Wednesday and will carry out their missions from Egypt and Jordan.

Meanwhile, the government announced on Aug. 7 a plan to use Galang Island in Riau Islands to treat 2,000 Palestinians injured by the Israelis in Gaza, although it later transpired that several details about the proposal were still being finalized.

Galang Island was a treatment center during the COVID-19 pandemic and housed Vietnamese refugees from 1975 to 1995, who were waiting resettlement in Western countries. (nvn)