Daniel A. Fajri, Jakarta – Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto reported that Egypt has not yet allowed an Indonesian hospital ship to enter Palestine.
"Egypt asked us to hold back [the ship] because many ships are queueing to dock. They are carrying food aid and other [humanitarian supplies]," Prabowo said in a press statement after handing over eight Airbus H225M heavy-lift helicopters to the Indonesian Air Force at Atang Sendjaja Air Base in Bogor, on Friday, Dec. 1.
Indonesia planned to send a hospital ship to the waters near Gaza. El Arish, an Egyptian region in Sinai bordering Rafah, is a hub for humanitarian aid to Palestine and the closest entry point to the besieged Gaza Strip.
The plan to send a naval hospital ship to Palestine was first conveyed by Prabowo after he dispatched the first phase of aid from Indonesia to Gaza on November 4, 2023. To date, Indonesia has delivered two phases of humanitarian aid.
In a press statement in Bogor, Prabowo said he is in constant communication with his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Ahmed Zaki. The Gerindra party chair will report to President Joko Jokowi Widodo about the naval hospital ship. "We will discuss this later. What's clear is that they said the hospital ship asked to be held back first," he said.
The naval hospital ship, the Indonesian warship (KRI) dr. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat-992, docked at the pier of the Indonesian Navy's Military Seaborne Command Headquarters (Kolinlamil), in Jakarta, on Thursday, November 30, in preparation for providing aid and medical services to the Palestinian people in Gaza.
So far, the Indonesian Navy has prepared not only the hospital ship and crew, including doctors and nurses but also aid for war victims. If the permission is granted, the voyage of the naval hospital will be the first mission of KRI dr. Radjiman to cross the ocean and leave Indonesian waters.