JAKARTA: The Indonesia Hospital in northern Gaza has resumed inpatient services, the Jakarta-based NGO that funded it said on Thursday, as the facility races to resume full operations after repairs to the building and equipment that were destroyed by Israeli forces.

The health facility in Beit Lahiya, funded by the Indonesian NGO Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, was one of the first sites hit when Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023.

As relentless Israeli attacks pushed the enclave’s healthcare system to the brink of collapse, the Indonesia Hospital stood as one of the last functioning health facilities in the north.

Since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, the hospital has been gradually resuming essential services, with inpatient treatment being the latest. 

“The Indonesia Hospital is resuming its operations to handle sick patients,” Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of MER-C’s board of trustees in Jakarta, told Arab News. 

“We hope to renovate and rebuild every part of the facility that was destroyed, as well as fully supply the hospital to meet all of the patients’ needs.”

Israeli forces targeted and heavily damaged most of the medical facilities in the Gaza Strip. 

The Indonesia Hospital was treating about 1,000 people at one point during Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 48,300 people and injured over 111,000.

Since last month, it has resumed services for emergencies, surgeries, radiology, laboratory, outpatient and inpatient treatments, and is now operating at 30 percent of full capacity

“Six months from the beginning of the ceasefire, we are aiming to reactivate essential services to reach at least 50 percent of full capacity,” Dr. Hadiki Habib, chairman of MER-C’s executive committee, told Arab News. 

The Indonesia Hospital will be the main referral hospital in northern Gaza and some parts of Gaza City, after the former main referral hospital, Al-Shifa, was destroyed by Israeli siege and attacks. 

“There is a great need for essential services,” Habib said. “Over a year of displacement and limited access (to healthcare), many Palestinians with chronic illnesses need quality treatments.”