MER-C Indonesia Immediately Departs Medical Volunteers To Gaza

Presidium MER-C Henry Hidayatullah (left), Chairman of Presidium MER-C Sarbini Abdul Murad (medium), and Presidium MER-C Faried Thalib (ANTARA/Cindy Frishanti)

The Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) immediately dispatched a team of medical volunteers and humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.

This was done because the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza had difficulty getting treatment where doctors were getting tired and the supply of drugs was running low due to the large number of victims who came to the hospital.

"In view of this, the MER-C sees the need to send a surgical team and a humanitarian aid team to Gaza, Palestine," said Chairman of the Indonesian MER-C Presidium Sarbini Abdul Murad at a press conference in Jakarta as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, October 10.

Sarbini said the MER-C would coordinate with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo to facilitate the departure of the medical team and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

"This team will be led by very experienced people, who often go to Gaza, namely Ir. Faried Talib," said Sarbini.

He said the MER-C decided to ask volunteers to stay in Gaza to help victims, with the volunteer record that they must be able to take care of themselves and not do things that harm themselves.

Sarbini emphasized that volunteers will stay in Indonesian hospitals and prioritize helping victims in Gaza.

Faried Talib revealed that there were five medical volunteer teams from Indonesia.

"There are surgeons, orthopedic doctors, anesthesiologists, and two more people are engineers and assistant engineers to stay in Gaza," said Faried.

Faried explained that the MER-C plans to build a specialist poly besides the Indonesian Hospital, but the top priority right now is to help victims.

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, October 9 appealed to Indonesian citizens in Palestine and Israel to increase vigilance and continue to communicate with Indonesian representatives.

Based on the latest data, 45 Indonesian citizens are in Palestine, 10 of whom are in Gaza and others in the West Bank.

In addition, there are 230 Indonesian citizens who are on religious tours at various points in Israel and so far there have been no reports of Indonesian citizens being victims.

Last Saturday the Al-Qassam Brigade, which is an armed wing of the Hamas group, launched rocket attacks on Israeli territory, airport, and military installations.

On the same day, Israel's Security Cabinet held a meeting and decided the goal of Israel's retaliatory attack was to destroy the military's capabilities and the Hamas administration.