RI Sends Water Cleaners To Medicines For Palestinian People In Gaza

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that humanitarian assistance from Indonesia for the Palestinian people in Gaza was in the form of drinking water clarity tools to medical equipment weighing a total of 51.5 tons.

"The aid items distributed are adjusted to the needs in Gaza, for example, the clarity of drinking water there is a lot of difficulty," he said during a press conference at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base Ops, reported by ANTARA, Saturday, November 4.

Jokowi said the drinking water clarity assistance had been included in one of the components of aid sent by the Indonesian government in the first wave for the needs of the victims of the Hamas-Israeli war in Gaza.

The government also sends medical equipment needed by health workers at hospital facilities in Gaza, foodstuffs that do not require difficult storage facilities, and medicines.

If calculated based on weights, he said, the humanitarian assistance totaled 51.5 tons which were divided into two batches of shipments.

The first wave weighing more than 21 tons of aid was sent using two planes, respectively C-130 Hercules and A-1328 from the 31st Air Squadron and 32 Indonesian Air Squadron from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Jakarta.

More than 30 tons of aid was flown using a Boeing 737 cargo aircraft from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten.

The President said there would be a wave of further aid shipments from Indonesia to Gaza which would be coordinated from a number of business worlds to non-governmental organizations.

"We see that the enthusiasm of the people of non-governmental organizations, the business world is a lot of people who want to distribute their assistance, so we will coordinate this," he said.

The government's decision to coordinate aid is due to the complicated bureaucratic process towards the point of handing over aid.

"Because the entry there is also not easy. If the government is easier, so we are open, and we hope that the second stage will be as soon as possible," he said.

The Indonesian Air Force confirmed that the flight route to the humanitarian mission to Gaza crossed Halim (Jakarta)-Aceh-Yangon (Myanmar)-New Delhi (India)-Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)-Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)-El Arish (Egypt).

"From here, it will be brought via Jeddah. Jeddah will stop waiting in line to enter El Arish, then he will be brought to Gaza," said Jokowi.