JAKARTA: A Jakarta-based NGO has launched a nationwide fundraiser to rebuild the Indonesia Hospital, one of the biggest health facilities in northern Gaza, which was severely damaged by deadly Israeli strikes.
The Indonesia Hospital, a four-story general hospital located near the Jabalia refugee camp, was built from donations of the Indonesian people raised by the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee.
The healthcare facility was one of the first targeted by Israel when its military began operations in the Palestinian enclave in October 2023, and had stood among the last functioning hospitals for the last two years.
“The Indonesia Hospital in Gaza has been a center of health service for the people of Palestine, but the damages to the hospital have limited the services we can provide. MER-C Indonesia wants to rebuild the hospital so that we can give optimal healthcare service for the people of Gaza,” MER-C spokesperson Diana Caroline said in a statement on Thursday.
“Once again, MER-C is inviting the Indonesian people to join our drive to rebuild the Indonesia Hospital in Gaza.”
When it opened in late 2015, the hospital’s construction and equipment were fully financed from donations made by Indonesians, with contributions from both the wealthy and the poorest citizens, as well as organizations including the Indonesian Red Cross Society.
Dozens of Indonesian engineers and builders also volunteered between 2011 and 2015 to design and build the facility and to prepare its operations, until it was officially inaugurated in 2016 by Indonesia’s then-Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Though Israel frequently has targeted medical facilities in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 — saying that they are used by Palestinian armed groups — MER-C has continued to send volunteers to help. A couple of them stayed in Gaza until late last year, as MER-C also sent medical volunteers to the besieged enclave as part of a larger emergency deployment led by the World Health Organization.
“We believe that access to healthcare is a human right, and MER-C Indonesia is committed to help the Palestinian people have access to quality healthcare services,” Caroline said.
In July, Dr. Marwan Al-Sultan, a renowned cardiac surgeon who was then the director of the Indonesia Hospital, was killed by the Israeli military. He is among hundreds of doctors and medics in Gaza that Israeli forces have killed over the last two years.
Al-Sultan never left his post despite multiple Israeli offensives, as the Indonesia Hospital was treating about 1,000 people at one point during the war, which has killed more than 69,000 people and injured over 170,000.
As MER-C launched its call for donations, Indonesians have started to make their contributions, including an elementary school in West Jakarta, which raised about $2,000 from students and their parents.
Rena, who is from Bekasi, West Java, donated her prize money from a recent race.
“I am blessed with second place in this 10K female (race),” she said. “The prize money is quite decent, so I want to donate this to Palestine through MER-C.”
