JAKARTA: The Indonesia Hospital in Gaza has resumed limited operations, the nongovernmental organization that funded it said on Tuesday, months after the facility was severely damaged by a deadly Israeli siege and attacks.
The hospital in northern Gaza, a four-story building located near the Jabalia refugee camp, was built from donations organized by the Jakarta-based Medical Emergency Rescue Committee.
It was one of the first targets hit by Israeli air raids in October and one of the last to remain operational until late last year. But Israeli bombardments forced staff and thousands of people seeking shelter on the hospital’s premises to move to Gaza’s south.
“Praise be to God, the hospital has resumed operations under limited capacity,” MER-C Chairman Dr. Sarbini Murad told Arab News.
“The Indonesia Hospital is relying on solar energy, but even solar is limited. Most of the medical equipment is damaged. The staff are making the most of what’s available because the most important thing is that the hospital can function to help the isolated residents of northern Gaza.”
According to Murad, the medical facility began to resume some services last month and is now able to take in patients, although doctors still cannot perform major surgeries.
“If a permanent ceasefire is implemented, hopefully (MER-C) can go there and begin repairing the hospital,” Murad said, adding that the facility may be the only one providing medical aid in north Gaza.
For months, Palestinians in northern Gaza have been isolated from the rest of the besieged enclave and hit hardest by hunger as Israeli forces denied aid convoys entry to the area.
In early November, the Israeli military said that Gaza-based militant group Hamas was using the Indonesia Hospital “to hide an underground command and control center.”
The claim was immediately refuted by MER-C, which said that it was a “precondition to attack” the medical facility.
A few weeks later, Israeli tanks and snipers indeed laid siege to the hospital, severely damaging the building and destroying its equipment, as they turned it into a new base for their attacks.
