Will Israel attack Indonesia’s hospital in Gaza amid claims Hamas ‘exploits’ medical facilities?

Jakarta’s foreign ministry stressed on Tuesday that the Indonesia Hospital in Gaza existed solely for ‘humanitarian purposes’ amid Israel’s claims

The chair of a voluntary group that funded the hospital has called Israel’s accusations about Hamas a ‘precondition’ for an attack on the facility

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The Rumah Sakit Indonesia hospital in Gaza City as pictured on Wednesday last week. Indonesia’s foreign ministry stressed on Tuesday that the facility had been built “to serve the medical needs of Palestinians in Gaza”. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:35pm, 7 Nov 2023Updated: 2:20pm, 7 Nov 2023

Indonesia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the purpose of the Indonesia Hospital in Gaza was to “fully” serve Palestinians in response to an accusation by the Israeli military that it has been used by Hamas to launch attacks.

Israel’s military has said that Hamas “systematically exploits hospitals as part of its war machine” as it exposed a network of tunnels, command centres and rocket launchers beneath and adjacent to hospitals in northern Gaza.

Hamas denies doing so and has accused Israel of spreading lies.

Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli air strikes on the southern Gaza Strip late last month. Photo: AP

“Indonesia Hospital in Gaza is a facility built by Indonesians fully for humanitarian purposes and to serve the medical needs of Palestinians in Gaza,” the Indonesian ministry said in a statement, adding the hospital is run by Palestinian authorities, helped by a few Indonesian volunteers.

The hospital “is currently treating patients in the amount that far exceeds its capacity”, the ministry added.

The statement came a day after Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the Indonesian Hospital had been built at a site that sat on top of a network of Hamas tunnels.

He also said Hamas was using a nearby area as a base to launch rockets into Israel.