Indonesian Hospital In Gaza Becomes Israel's Military Headquarters, MER-C Writes To WHO

JAKARTA - The Indonesian humanitarian volunteer organization Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) immediately sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the Indonesian Hospital which was used as the headquarters of Israeli troops.

"In the next few days, MER-C will send a letter to WHO asking the world health body to send an investigation team there," said MER-C Indonesia Presidium Sarbini Abdul Murad, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, December 21.

Apart from asking WHO to investigate the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, Palestine, which was used as a military base, Sarbini also urged WHO to instruct Israeli soldiers to immediately leave the hospital.

"WHO has that authority," said Sarbini.

On November 6 2023, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Daniel Hagari accused that there was a tunnel in the Indonesian Hospital which is the headquarters of Hamas. However, this has been denied because the accusation was not proven, said Sarbini.

After the ceasefire, Israel gave an ultimatum for the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza to be vacated. Not only did they force it to be evacuated, the Israeli army actually controlled the hospital as a military base.

Sarbini emphasized that Israel's steps had clearly violated international humanitarian law by using hospitals as shields. Moreover, hospitals are neutral institutions that cannot be occupied by soldiers.

"There should be no soldiers in hospitals and we strongly condemn that," said Sarbini.

Seeing the humanitarian tragedy that occurred in Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip, Sarbini regretted the attitude of the United Nations (UN) which tended to be passive.

According to him, to stop Zionist Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people, it is not enough to just make a call. However, concrete steps from the international community are needed to end Israel's atrocities.