Indonesia will fly around 2,000 wounded people from Gaza to an uninhabited island for treatment.
The Muslim-majority country, which has been sending humanitarian aid to Gaza since Israel launched an offensive in October 2023, will convert a medical facility on the uninhabited north-west Indonesian island of Galang.
Hasan Nasbi, the presidential spokesman, said: “Indonesia will give medical help for about 2,000 Gaza residents who became victims of war, those who are wounded, buried under debris.”
However, Mr Nasbi noted that this was not an evacuation – all those who receive treatment will return to Gaza once they have recovered.
He did not provide details on when this program would begin or how long it would last, and Indonesia’s presidential office and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to The Telegraph.
More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct 7 2023, when the Israel-Hamas conflict began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
More than 50,000 of the dead or injured have been children, according to Unicef data.
Israel launched the offensive after Hamas massacred 1,200 people across southern Israel and kidnapped more than 250.
The island that will host the facility, Galang, is located east of Indonesia’s large Sumatra island and approximately 25 miles south of Singapore.
While mostly uninhabited, between 1979 and 1996, the island hosted a refugee camp for those displaced during the Vietnam War and during the Covid-19 pandemic a hospital was opened to treat patients.
As the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia has recognised the state of Palestine since 1988 and has hosted a Palestinian embassy since 1990.
During his inaugural speech in October, Prabowo Subianto, the Indonesian president, said he supported “the independence of the Palestinian people” and described Indonesian support as a form of Muslim solidarity.
Thousands of Indonesians have also taken to the streets in support of Palestinians in Gaza since the conflict began.
In April, Mr Prabowo said Indonesia was “ready to evacuate the wounded, the traumatised, the orphans” from Gaza.
His comments drew criticism from those who oppose efforts to permanently remove Gazans from Palestine, and Indonesia’s foreign ministry said it “strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians”.
Britain to evacuate children
Indonesia is not the only country taking in ill and injured Gazans.
Earlier this month in Britain, the Government also announced that it would be evacuating “more children from Gaza who require urgent medical care”.
An unnamed senior Whitehall source said that as many as 300 children could be brought to the UK, while Sir Keir Starmer said Britain was “urgently accelerating” its efforts.
The Prime Minister also said in July that the UK was prepared to recognise Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel met certain conditions.
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