Indonesia plans to send a hospital ship to Gaza to provide medical aid for victims of the war, the Navy’s chief of staff, Admiral Muhammad Ali, said.
The ship, the KRI Dr Radjiman Wedyodiningrat (992), is currently docked in Jakarta awaiting clearance from Egypt to enter its waters and will set up a field hospital close to Gaza.
Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and specialist in Indo-Pacific naval affairs, said that such missions involve complex planning and execution during wartime.
“Depending on its exact location, there’ll be a certain level of risk involved to personnel safety,” Koh told Al Jazeera, noting the likelihood the ship will serve as a floating hospital stationed off the Gaza coast.
The hospital may have to use rotary wing aircraft and small landing crafts and boats to ferry people and materiel to and from the shore.
“Such operations are bound to be complex and fraught with dangers. It’ll certainly require immense coordination with the local authorities,” he said.
Source: AlJazeera
