Air Force's two planes to send humanitarian aid to Gaza

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Air Force's two C-130 Hercules aircraft are scheduled to send humanitarian aid to Gaza from Indonesia's government, Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), and National Alms Agency (Baznas) on Saturday (November 4) through the Jakarta-Egypt route.

Head of the Information Center of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), Rear Admiral Julius Widjojono, stated that the two Hercules aircraft came from Air Squadron 31 and Air Squadron 32 of the Indonesian Air Force.

In a statement received on Thursday, Widjojono noted that his side was also preparing two spare Hercules aircraft for this humanitarian mission.

"Apart from the two Hercules aircraft, there is one charter airplane (Boeing 737 by Garuda Indonesia) from the National Police Headquarters. There will be three aircraft transporting humanitarian aid for Palestine," he stated.

According to Widjojono, the three aircraft are planned to depart from the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta on Saturday at 8:30 local time. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to attend the send-off ceremony.

The three planes are scheduled to arrive in Egypt on Monday, November 6, he remarked.

"The flight route for this humanitarian mission is Halim (Jakarta) - Aceh - Yangon (Myanmar) - New Delhi (India) - Abu Dhabi (the United Arab Emirates) - Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) - El Arish (Egypt). Solid inter-agency collaboration has made the process of sending aid smooth," Widjojono revealed.

Currently, he noted that the Foreign Affairs Ministry is submitting a diplomatic note, especially regarding flight clearance, landing permit, and ground handling.

In addition, the Defense Ministry helped to finance the aid delivery, he remarked.

Foreign Affairs Ministry's spokesperson, Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, noted on November 1 that the humanitarian aid would be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent and then distributed to Gaza by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

"This is because the Egyptian Red Crescent is the only organization allowed to bring aid into Gaza," he explained.

Iqbal noted that his side is still awaiting approval from the United Nations regarding aid items that could enter Gaza.