JAKARTA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia here on Thursday sent off a hospital ship for a humanitarian mission in the Gaza Strip, where the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the region has reportedly led to the death of more than 24,000 people and the injuries of more than 61,000 people since its outbreak in October last year.
The ship with more than 200 crews on board is carrying humanitarian aid, including medicines, blankets, clothes, milk, biscuits, mineral water and instant noodles, to the Egyptian city of El Arish, which borders Rafah City in the southern Gaza Strip.
The government has set a target for the ship to return to Jakarta 52 days after its departure.
"This is our proof of support to Palestinians in their struggle to defend themselves ... We continue to help with what we can do for them," the country's Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto said in a speech during the sending-off ceremony at a port in the northern part of Jakarta. ■
