Gembong Hanung, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has deployed dozens of personnel on a 12-day humanitarian mission to deliver aid via airdrop for Palestinians in Gaza, where the hunger crisis is spreading.
On Wednesday, TNI commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto dispatched the Garuda Merah Putih II, a 66-strong team of soldiers and National Alms Agency (Baznas) workers, along with government officials to deliver 800 tonnes of food, medicines and blankets, mostly packed in Jordan and Egypt.
The mission deployed amid Israel's ongoing aid blockade on Gaza, which international groups including the World Health Organization have pointed to as the main cause of mass starvation in Gaza. A separate United Nations-backed assessment has warned that famine is unfolding in the territory.
Agus said the humanitarian mission symbolized Indonesia's commitment to humanity ahead of Independence Day on Aug. 17.
"This spirit of independence is manifested by echoing support for Palestinians who are currently struggling for a peaceful life and independence," he said at a televised press conference on Aug. 13 at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta.
Agus said the aid would be sent via airdrops with assistance from the Royal Jordanian Air Force, adding that Indonesia's team has identified 10 safe drop zones to prevent harm to Gazans from dangerous and unreliable airdrops.
There have been reports of air-dropped aids causing injuries to Palestinians, prompting calls from humanitarian organizations for land delivery as a more humane and effective option.
The media office of the Hamas-run Gaza administration said 23 people had been killed by humanitarian airdrops since the war began almost two years ago, as countries resorted to the aerial method due to the extreme difficulty of transporting aid by road, Reuters reported on Saturday.
Most recently, a box of aid delivered by parachute on Saturday killed a 14-year-old boy who was waiting for food with other Palestinians at a tent encampment in central Gaza.
Agus said the Garuda Merah Putih II would deliver aid at designated drop zones using the low cost low altitude (LCLA) aerial method, which involves dropping packages rigged to individual parachutes from a low altitude of 2,000 feet (609 meters), as it was safer than other available methods.
The plan is for the team to deliver 600 aid packages by LCLA airdrop until Aug. 23.
This is the second time the Garuda Merah Putih II has been deployed to Gaza. This mission is different from its first mission in April 2024, when the team air-dropped 3,200 tonnes of food and medicine using a single C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, in that the team will be using two Hercules planes.
Meanwhile, Baznas will be providing logistical support from Jordan and Egypt. According to the agency, one Hercules will take off from Jordan's King Abdullah II Air Base and enter Gaza from the east, while the second aircraft will take off from Egypt's airports in either Cairo or El Arish to enter the territory from the west.
"We have already packed the aid in Jordan and Egypt, we only need to deliver them," Baznas head Noor Achmad told Wednesday's press conference.
In addition to an announcement that it would send 10,000 tonnes of rice to Gaza, the government recently unveiled a plan to set up a medical facility on the uninhabited island of Galang in Riau Islands province, just south of Singapore, to treat around 2,000 injured Palestinians for their eventual return to Gaza after recovery.
The island is the site of an emergency hospital that treated COVID-19 patients from April 2020 until it closed in December 2022.
Source: https://asianews.network/indonesia-to-air-drop-aid-as-starvation-spirals-in-gaza