INDONESIA TO PROVIDE ONE MILLION DOLLARS FOR GAZA RECONSTUCTION

**Head of Middle East Directorate of Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denny Lesmana.** (Photo: MINA)

Jakarta, 15 Dhulhijja 1435/8 October 2014 (MINA) – Indonesia delegation will leave on Friday for the Gaza Reconstruction Conference due to be held in October 12, 2014 and will provide one million dollars aid for the reconstruction, according to foreign ministry source.

“In this donor conference, Indonesia will pledge one million dollars financial aid for the construction of Gaza,” said Head of Middle East Directorate of Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Denny Lesmana in a discussion with humanity NGOs in Jakarta, Wednesday.

He stated the delegation will leave the day after tomorrow. “Our team will leave on Friday (10/10) Early,” he said.

He said that Indonesia officially recognized Palestinian state on 16 November 1988, a day after the declaration of Palestine on November 15, 1988 and in 1989 opened Palestinian embassy in Jakarta.

“Until now, Indonesia has 128 training programs for 1257 Palestinians conducted by ministries of the Indonesian government,” said Deny.

He told the NGOs that Egypt to host the international donor conference for Gaza, while Norwegia will lead the International Committee to discuss how to rebuild Gaza after Israeli aggression that took place for 51 days into the blockaded enclave.

Meanwhile, Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), a humanitarian organization that is currently building Indonesian hospital in north of Gaza expressed its grateful and appreciation to Indonesians especially the poor to middle class people for their donation to finance the building of the hospital which is now in the final phase of preparing its medical tools.

MER-C asked the Foreign Ministry to help and give permission for lawmakers to attend the inauguration of Indonesian hospital in December, 2014.

The discussion was also attended by representatives from other NGOs, namely M. Rudi (Secretary General of BSMI), Rully Barlian (PKPU Program Director), Imam Akbar (ACT) and Ari Ahmad Arif (KNRP).

The latest Israeli aggression against Gaza that last for 51 days left at least 2,148 Palestinians killed and more than 11,000 others injured. According to reports, about 20,000 homes were destroyed and thousands of schools damaged by the Israeli air strikes.

Earlier in Gaza, Deputy Prime Minister of Palestine, Muhammad Mustafa, said the conference is expected to result in international efforts to bring aids for reconstruction in Gaza so that people can go back their home.

He said a large number of Gazans have been able to return to their homes after the cease-fire, but there are still more than 100,000 people from 20,000 families are still living outside their home in the refugee camps.

Gaza needs about US$7.5 billion to reconstruct the destroyed buildings.(L/P008/R04/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)