Indonesia rebuffs Israeli claim over Gaza hospital 'military use'
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Indonesia's Foreign Ministry affirms that the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza was constructed solely for humanitarian reasons.
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Palestinian children injured in an Israeli airstrike await treatment at a hospital in southern Gaza, on October 17, 2023 (AFP)
Indonesia rejected Israeli claims that a hospital constructed in Gaza with Indonesian funds is positioned above a network of Resistance tunnels and close to a rocket launchpad.
The hospital, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip near the heavily fortified separation barrier, was constructed with donations from Indonesian charitable organizations.
"The Indonesian Hospital in Gaza is a facility built by the Indonesian people entirely for humanitarian purposes and to serve the medical needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza," Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
The Israeli occupation forces commit yet another horrible massacre against the #Palestinian people.#Gaza's Interior Ministry announced that around 400 Palestinians were victims of a brutal Israeli airstrike targeting the vicinity of the Indonesian Hospital.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 31, 2023
The Interior… pic.twitter.com/xnEi7RNYNb
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, claimed a day earlier that the Indonesian Hospital was constructed on a site allegedly situated above a network of Hamas tunnels.
He also alleged that the nearby area was being utilized by the Resistance as a launching pad for rockets aimed at "Israel".
"I will show you the reason why they built the hospital there. Unsurprisingly, Hamas built the hospital on top of their terror infrastructures," Hagari said in a video statement posted by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on YouTube.
He further said, "In this location, the IDF has identified a rocket launch platform, indicating that rockets are fired from this point." He pointed to photographic alleged "evidence" supporting his claims.
Iqbal dismissed the allegations regarding the hospital, emphasizing that, like other medical facilities in war-torn Gaza, it is currently providing care to a patient load well exceeding its capacity.
The Indonesian charity operating the hospital, MER-C, has also rejected the claim that the facility is being used by Hamas.
"What Israel accused us of can be a precondition for them to launch an attack at the Indonesian hospital in Gaza," MER-C chief Sarbini Abdul Murad said in Jakarta on Monday.
The Israeli "accusation is a precondition to justify attacks against us, therefore we need to debunk it," Murad added.
Hospitals under Israeli fire
Meanwhile, "Israel" has for a month relentlessly bombed the besieged Gaza Strip, killing more than 10,000 people -- 4,000 of them children.
It is worth noting that hospitals in Gaza have become frequent targets of the Israeli airstrikes, often suffering multiple and consecutive bombings. These assaults have resulted in severe damage to healthcare facilities that are already strained by a high volume of patients.
“Did you see the wound on my hand, my brother? Look at it with your eyes so that we can tell the world together about what happened to us in Gaza.”
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 4, 2023
A heartbreaking video of two surviving children from the Al-Maghazi refugee camp massacre the Israelis committed tonight.… pic.twitter.com/CItfGHVFJf
Such attacks not only exacerbate the dire humanitarian situation but also hinder the ability of medical professionals to provide crucial care to the wounded, leaving Gazans in even more distress.
The intentional targeting of hospitals has sparked international condemnation and calls for the protection of medical facilities during the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza most notably after al-Ahli Baptist Hospital massacre.
Read more: 100 Israeli doctors call for bombing of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza
