Indonesia has announced plans to repurpose a medical facility on Galang Island to provide care for approximately 2,000 wounded Palestinians from Gaza. The patients, all victims of the ongoing conflict in the region, will be returned to Gaza after they have recovered, according to presidential spokesperson Hasan Nasbi.
Located off the coast of Sumatra and south of Singapore, Galang Island is currently uninhabited. It was previously home to a major COVID-19 hospital and, before that, served as a refugee camp for Vietnamese asylum seekers fleeing the aftermath of the Vietnam War, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
“This is not an evacuation,” Nasbi emphasized in a statement to reporters. “Indonesia will give medical help for about 2,000 Gaza residents who became victims of war, those who are wounded, buried under debris.”
While the timeline for the operation has not been specified, the Indonesian government intends to temporarily house the patients' families on the island during treatment. Further details were not disclosed, and officials from the foreign and defense ministries have yet to comment.
The move underscores Indonesia’s ongoing support for Palestinians amid the Gaza crisis, which began escalating in October 2023 following an Israeli military offensive. Health officials in Gaza report over 60,000 deaths since the start of the conflict.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, has consistently rejected proposals that suggest the permanent relocation of Palestinians. The new initiative comes months after President Prabowo Subianto’s earlier offer to host wounded Palestinians faced criticism from senior Indonesian clerics for allegedly echoing U.S. proposals to resettle Palestinians outside Gaza.
In response, Indonesia’s foreign ministry reaffirmed the country’s commitment to a two-state solution, stating that it "strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians."
The facility on Galang, built in 2020 as part of the nation’s COVID-19 response, will now serve a humanitarian mission once more—this time for victims of a distant war.
