palestine israel

The 10th and 12th Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla (JK) met the Palestinian Hamas delegation led by Political Bureau Officer and Deputy Head of Hamas International Affairs, Bassem Naim, in Malaysia, Sunday (5/5). The meeting was related to peace efforts between Palestine and Israel.

JK himself was asked to help mediate between the two parties as was done in 2023.

“Yes, yesterday I went to Kuala Lumpur for peace. Peace is how Hamas asked us to provide facilitation, encourage peace,” said JK in Central Jakarta, Tuesday (7/5).

During the meeting, JK said that in order to achieve peace, it cannot only be done by reconciling Palestine and Israel. Hamas itself must also make peace with the ruling political party in Palestine, namely Fatah.

“I said Hamas must also make peace with Palestine itself. Hamas and Fatah must make peace. We are certainly trying to get there,” he explained.

He also admitted that he had discussed this peace effort with the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim. This senior Golkar politician will also encourage negotiations between Hamas and Fatah.

“But we are trying now to establish peace between them, they are negotiating to be stronger,” he concluded. (Z-11)

WAR in the Gaza Strip, Palestine and wider tensions in the Middle East are expected to be the main focus at a special meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Saudi Arabia on Sunday (28/4). United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Palestinian leaders and top officials from other countries brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are on the guest list for the summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“The world is currently in a difficult situation, trying to balance security and prosperity,” Saudi Planning Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim said at a press conference on Saturday (27/4) while reviewing the event. “We meet at a time when one error in judgment, one error in calculation, or one error in communication will further exacerbate our challenges,” he said.

The Gaza war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Israel estimates 129 hostages captured by militants on October 7 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 people the military says are dead.

Israel vowed to crush Hamas with retaliatory attacks that killed at least 34,388 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.

WEF President Borge Brende said that there was new momentum in talks around the hostages and a possible way out of the deadlock faced in Gaza. However, there will be no Israeli participation at the summit and Brende noted that formal mediation involving Qatar and Egypt is underway elsewhere.

“This is more of an opportunity to have structured discussions with key players,” he said at a press conference, Saturday (27/4). “Of course there will be discussions regarding the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza as well as regarding Iran, which supports Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah group,” he added.
The meeting had all the prospects of being a very important meeting.

Also read: Saudi Arabia urges Israel to stop bombing Gaza and give Palestine its rights

Meanwhile, the United States (US) Department of State said that Blinken would discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that guarantees the release of hostages. Hopes that mediators might reach a new ceasefire in Gaza before or during the holy month of Ramadan ultimately came to naught.

Hamas said on Saturday it was studying Israel’s latest counter proposal regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza, a day following media reports said a delegation of Egyptian mediators arrived in Israel in an attempt to restart stalled talks. Since its inception, Saudi has worked closely with other regional and global powers to try to contain the war in Gaza and avoid a conflict that might derail the ambitious economic reform agenda known as Vision 2030.

The Saudi kingdom is also still in talks on a landmark deal recognizing Israel for the first time while strengthening its security partnership with the United States. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, spoke optimistically regarding the deal in an interview with Fox News in September, but analysts said the war has complicated the deal.

Also read: Hamas warns that Israel’s raid on Rafah resulted in tens of thousands of deaths

On the other hand, Saudi is trying to open up to the world, luring business leaders and nonreligious tourists. Hosting international events such as the two-day WEF meeting allows the kingdom to showcase social changes including the reintroduction of cinemas and the lifting of a ban on women driving.

“Eight years into Vision 2030, we have demonstrated our willingness to lead a transformative growth model that is innovative, inclusive and sustainable. And we are already seeing some of the results,” said Ibrahim.

However, questions remain regarding how much Vision 2030 will be achieved and when, with particular attention drawn to flagship projects such as NEOM, a planned futuristic megacity. In December, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said officials had decided to delay the timelines of several major projects past 2030, without specifying which projects.

“Certain projects can be expanded for three years (2033), some will be expanded until 2035. Some will be expanded even more than that and some will be rationalized,” he concluded. (AFP/Z-2)

A WAVE of student support for Palestinians from top campuses in the United States (US) is increasingly widespread. A total of 550 participants have been arrested by the police, including those from world-class or Ivy League campuses.

One of them is New York University (NYU). NYU students set up a camping tent entitled the Liberation Zone at Gould Plaza, Stern School of Business, since Tuesday (23/4).

Apart from demanding an end to Israeli attacks, they asked the campus to end cooperation with companies affiliated with the Zionist State. They also held a prayer action together.

The protest at NYU was filled with tension. A number of students were arrested following the campus asked the police to break up the demonstration.

“Police said 133 protesters had been detained on Wednesday (24/4),” reported Qatar-based media, Al-Jazeera.

Apart from NYU, there were several other Ivy League universities that took part in this protest, including Yale University, Columbia University, University of Michigan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of North Carolina, University of Texas, and University of Minnesota University of California, Berkeley. A total of 550 people were arrested in pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the US to stop the pro-Palestinian protests. He felt irritated because he received criticism from various parties.

“What is happening on American campuses is truly horrific. This is senseless. It must be stopped. It must be condemned and dealt with firmly,” he said. (Aljazeera/Z-2)

Palestinians in Rafah live in the shadow of constant terror as Israel vows to continue its planned offensive once morest the refugee-filled Southern Gaza city. Most residents of the Gaza Strip took refuge in Rafah in the southernmost part of the territory following fleeing Israeli bombardment elsewhere.

The Israeli army insists it will carry out a ground offensive to eliminate Hamas militants, despite international protests and concerns regarding the estimated 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah. “We live in constant terror and fear in repeated displacements and invasions,” said Nidaa Safi, 30, who fled the Israeli offensive in the north and came to Rafah with her husband and children.

“We think regarding it all day,” he said. Even before Israeli forces began their expected attack, they launched devastating airstrikes.

An overnight attack on a house in Rafah killed a four-month-old baby, his mother, father and two brothers, relatives and neighbors told AFP. Hospital officials in Rafah said more than a dozen people died that night.

“Every day we hear news regarding the invasion of Rafah and that is a certain fact, apart from the bombings that we saw and heard,” said Safi. “Fear controls us. We don’t know how to think anymore,” he said.

His family has now decided to leave for Deir al-Balah, in the middle of the Gaza Strip. Safi said they hoped to escape Rafah before the Israeli military killed them.

Also read: Benjamin Netanyahu is angry with US students protesting once morest Palestine

There is no safe place

No place is safe from attacks from various corners of the Israeli military. Samah Deeb, 32, decided to wait before leaving.

“The thought of being displaced once more makes me very scared, because I have been displaced many times,” he said. Before leaving for Rafah, he had left home and took refuge at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

“The thought of having to work in another tent and moving all our belongings and the new costs that would be incurred was unbearable,” he said. “There is no other safe place and there is no other place other than Rafah to go to,” he explained.

Also read: Gaza Strip Official: Israeli Attack Kills Nine Family Members in Rafah

Deeb said he was monitoring the news closely before deciding on any unclear next steps. “Every time they ask us to evacuate Rafah, we will leave like other residents. But we pray to God that they do not attack Rafah and force us to experience the suffering caused by evacuation once more,” he said.

Qasim Abu Nahl, 40, from Gaza City, said he had been displaced four times. “Moving from one place to another was very difficult for us,” he said.

They spent nearly two weeks enduring massive bombardments, bullets, and smoke bombs at the city’s Al-Rantisi Hospital before fleeing to Nuseirat in central Gaza with only the clothes that clung to their bodies. He fled the bombing in Nuseirat and made his way to the crowded and increasingly dangerous southern city of Khan Yunis before he reached Rafah.

Also read: Israel hits Rafah during ceasefire negotiations

“We don’t know if we will be safe tomorrow or not,” he said. “Every day there is always new disturbing news regarding Rafah,” he said.

Another resident, Noor al-Farah, 56, had packed clothes, food and firewood with her husband and children in preparation. “I was mentally exhausted from the worrying news and waiting for the unknown,” he said.

He might not find another place outside Rafah for his family to live. He was afraid of snakes in the refugee camp.

New death

Gazans living in the Rafah camps also had to face unbearable temperatures as the heat wave began. Intisar Ramadan Ghaban said life in a hot tent for fear of an Israeli invasion was like a new death.

The 61-year-old woman said she had fled Gaza City and Nuseirat refugee camps before reaching Rafah. “The invasion of Rafah is what we fear most,” he said.

They are worried that the time will come when the Israeli military tells them to get out. But until then they don’t know where else to go.

“Will they give us a warning first? Or will we leave immediately without knowing what is happening, just carrying ourselves with nothing? Or will we be massively bombarded? We don’t know,” he concluded. (AFP/Z-2)