TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced that the government will immediately dispatch humanitarian aid to Palestinians residing in Gaza. The aid will be dispersed via Hercules planes through the air to the conflict zone.

“Because delivering [the aid] by land is already difficult,” he said in his statement to journalists after inaugurating the implementation of the Presidential Instruction on Regional Roads in Madiun Regency, East Java Province, on Friday, March 8, 2024, as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat's video.

Jokowi observed a demonstration of aid delivery to Gaza at the Iswahjudi Air Force Base, Magetan Regency. In this simulation, a number of Hercules planes and helicopters released the helicopter box from a certain height. “The simulation was conducted earlier, and I saw the results were good,” he said.

Indonesia is among the nations that can provide aid to Palestine. The Palace reiterated that the government remained committed to supporting the Palestinian people. However, the president did not elaborate on what kind of assistance would be provided, stating that it would be as usual.

The Indonesian government has partnered twice with the private sector to deliver humanitarian aid in the form of logistics and basic necessities to Palestine. The assistance was sent on November 4, 2023, and November 20, 2023.

“Through this assistance, Indonesia hopes to alleviate the burden of the people of Gaza,” read the statement from the Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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