"Our special medical aid for Gaza's hospitals will be delivered in the second batch," Head of the Health Ministry's Crisis Center, Sumarjaya, noted in Tangerang, Banten Province, on Monday.
In the meantime, the first batch of the ministry's medical supplies, weighing seven tons, had been flown to Egypt along with the Indonesian Government's aid packages on Sunday evening, he remarked.
The medical supplies included emergency kits for minor surgery, food supplements for pregnant women and toddlers, and essential medicines for acute respiratory tract infections, skin disease, and diarrhea, he revealed.
Meanwhile, Head of the National Police's International Relations Division Insp. Gen. Krishna Murti had earlier noted that the first batch of Indonesia's humanitarian aid would be received by the Egyptian Red Crescent.
The Egyptian Red Crescent then distributed the Indonesian aid packages to those in need in the besieged Gaza Strip, he remarked, adding that the total weight of the aid was recorded at 26.5 tons.
The aid packages comprise 100 tents that could accommodate five thousand people, one thousand winter blankets, food, medicines, sanitation kits, water distillers, and minor surgery sets, he stated.
This humanitarian aid from the Indonesian Government was available owning to the National Police's sound coordination with the Health Ministry, he added.
The aid packages, weighing 26.5 tons, were transported to Egypt aboard a chartered Airbus A330 that took off from the Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten Province, on early Monday.
The commercial aircraft would arrive in Egypt about 1.5 hours earlier than two units of the Indonesian Air Force's C-130 Hercules that departed from the Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta on Saturday (Nov 4).
On Saturday morning, President Joko Widodo had sent off humanitarian assistance, weighing 51.5 tons, from the Indonesian government and people for Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
New armed conflict between Palestine and Israel erupted again following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel early in the morning of October 7.
Prior to the assaults by Palestinian liberation fighters, Israel had continued its closure of Gaza crossings.
Palestine's news agency WAFA reported on September 25 that the Israeli closure of Gaza crossings had worsened the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza.
According to WAFA, the Palestinians had already suffered from the severe impacts of "more than 17 years of tight Israeli land, sea, and air blockades."
Al Jazeera quoted Hamas, which governs Gaza, as stating that its assault on Israel was "a response to the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence."
In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and, according to Al Jazeera, pledged that the Israeli forces would "turn all Hamas hideouts into rubble."
The ongoing Israeli genocidal campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million people, has resulted in the deaths of several thousand Palestinian civilians and led to a humanitarian crisis.
Related news: President urges minister to continually voice support for Palestine
Related news: Indonesia urges Israel to stop attacking hospitals
Related news: Egyptian Red Crescent delivering Indonesia's aid for Palestine to Gaza
Translator: Azmi SM, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
