The aircraft on standby include Boeing 737-400/500, C-130J Super Hercules, and Hercules C-130H, TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto stated at a meeting with ulemas of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Jakarta on Friday.
The Indonesian Air Force's Boeing 737-400/500 can carry 41 crew members, 86 passengers, and logistics weighing 10 tons, while the C-130J can seat 51 people and the C-130H can transport 55 people.
The aircraft will transport the wounded Palestinian evacuees to Indonesia for treatment at Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital (RSPAD) and Jenderal Besar Soedirman National Defense Central Hospital.
These two Jakarta-based hospitals could receive up to 1,000 patients, General Agus said, adding that all injured Palestinian evacuees would be offered the best medical care and post-trauma treatment.
To this end, the TNI has prepared a team of specialists to assist the traumatized evacuees with therapy, he stated.
The TNI is also ready to deliver further humanitarian supplies for Gaza, including a hospital ship, as long as a ceasefire has been implemented and the Indonesian military has received a UN mandate, he remarked.
At the recent IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Indonesia's Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is also President-elect, cited President Joko Widodo's instruction to him to evacuate around 1,000 injured Gaza evacuees to Indonesia.
The Gaza evacuees would then receive medical treatments at hospitals in Indonesia.
Regarding this matter, Prabowo said he welcomed the suggestion of former East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa to send the 1,000 Gaza evacuees to pesantrens (Islamic boarding schools) in East Java.
Several public figures from West Java have also expressed their readiness to receive the Gaza evacuees and send them to pesantrens in the province to be educated and treated well there.
Prabowo reiterated Indonesia's consistent stance that the armed conflict in Gaza should be resolved through "ceasefire and negotiation."
"Indonesia firmly supports Palestinian independence, a two-state solution, and all efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire," he pointed out.
A fresh armed conflict erupted between Palestine and Israel following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel early in the morning of October 7, 2023.
Prior to the assault by Palestinian liberation fighters in Israel, Tel Aviv continued its closure of Gaza crossings.
In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas. Since the war began, the Israeli armed forces have killed at least 37,266 Palestinian civilians and injured some 85,102 others as of June 15, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera reported that many of those killed in Gaza are women and children. The Israeli aggression has also triggered a humanitarian catastrophe.
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Translator: Walda M, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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