Prabowo To Cairo Coordinates Aid Delivery To Gaza

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto/ANTARA/Hendri Sukma Indrawan.

JAKARTA - Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said he was ready to fly to Cairo, Egypt to coordinate the technical delivery of hospital ship assistance belonging to the Indonesian Army and various other humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

Prabowo will report the plan to President Joko Widodo, other ministries and institutions regarding the plan.

"I also said that I am ready for the President's permission, I am ready to fly to Cairo to coordinate with the Egyptian Minister of Defense and meet maybe several figures in the area," Prabowo said when receiving a visit from the Egyptian Ambassador to Indonesia Ashraf Sulthan at the Ministry of Defense, Jakarta, as reported by ANTARA, Monday, November 6.

Prabowo explained that one of the obstacles in sending aid to the Gaza Strip was the border access gate between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

"Hopefully as soon as possible I can coordinate there," said Prabowo.

Prabowo assured that the border door would be open if communication was carried out with related parties.

"Yes, they are committed to that, and of course we will coordinate with all parties there, the United Nations and so on," he continued.

When confirmed which hospital ship will be used, Prabowo admitted that he was still discussing this internally. Currently, Indonesia has three hospital ships, namely KRI Dr. Soeharso, KRI Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo, and KRI Dr. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat.

"We'll see if I'm not mistaken, we already have three hospital ships," said Prabowo.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Ambassador Ashraf Sulthan said Palestinians needed a lot of humanitarian assistance given the tragic situation there.

"We all know the situation in Gaza is very tragic, there is a great need for all humanitarian aid such as food, water, medical supplies, fuel and so on," he said.

He also emphasized that Egypt was very open to receiving all humanitarian aid coming from Indonesia before being sent to the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

"In addition to receiving the two aids that have been sent to Egypt in the last two days, there is an opportunity to send aid again in different ways so this is the main topic in the meeting (with the Minister of Defense)," Ashraf continued.

Ashraf also said that Egypt really appreciates Indonesia's initiative and support for the crisis in Palestine.

"It is very important that we show solidarity to the Palestinian people who are experiencing difficulties to date," he concluded.