Indonesia Hospital

Indonesia Hospital (Arabic: المستشفى الإندونيسي, romanized: al-Mustashfá al-Indūnīsī, Indonesian: Rumah Sakit Indonesia) was a hospital located in Bait Lahia, North Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip, Palestine.

Facilities

The hospital had 100 ward beds, 4 operating theaters, and a 10-bed intensive care unit. The hospital had 400 staff members employed by the Health Minister of the Gaza Strip, and several volunteers from Indonesia.

History

Construction

Construction of the hospital began in 2011 on 16,000 square meters of land donated by the government of Gaza. The project cost IDR 126 billion and was funded by donations from Indonesian people and organizations such as the Indonesian Red Cross Society and Muhammadiyah, collected through the Indonesian humanitarian organization Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C). Then-Indonesian Vice-president Jusuf Kalla inaugurated the hospital on 9 January 2016.

Israel–Hamas war

On 20 November 2023, as part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, the IDF completely surrounded and besieged the hospital. Israel claims that Hamas fighters were using the hospital for military purposes, although this is disputed. As of December 2023, the occupied building was later turned into an IDF military base.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi issued the "harshest of condemnations" after the assault. She declared this during a diplomatic visit to China, who holds the presidency of the UNSC in November 2023, as an effort to push for a ceasefire on moral grounds.

Al Jazeera reported that on Friday, 24 November, Israeli forces attacked the hospital, leaving much of it damaged. A Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson and other reports said the patients and personnel were then evacuated.

In June 2024, the hospital reopened to patients as the only medical facility in northern Gaza.

See also

• List of hospitals in the State of Palestine
• Indonesia–Palestine relations

References