الكاتب: kafej

Pentagon says it targeted training facility and a safe house in response to continued attacks on US forces.

The United States has carried out two more air strikes in Syria against facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its aligned groups.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the “precision strikes” targeted a training facility near the city of Albu Kamal and a safe house near the city of Mayadeen, in response to continued attacks against US forces in Syria and Iraq.

“The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” Austin said in a statement on Sunday.

Citing an unnamed local source, the Reuters news agency said the US strikes targeted a camp run by pro-Iranian armed groups in an area west of Albu Kamal, in Deir al Zor province. The other strike was near a bridge close to the city of Mayadeen, which is near the Iraqi border and is a stronghold of pro-Iranian armed groups, it added.

The Associated Press news agency said one of the sites also included weapons storage, citing a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a military operation.

The US strike is the third in just over two weeks as Washington attempts to put an end to drone and rocket attacks against its forces in Syria and Iraq that began when the Israel-Hamas war started a month ago.

US and coalition troops have been attacked at least 40 times in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed forces in recent weeks. About 56 troops have been injured in the attacks in Syria and Iraq, but all have returned to duty, according to the Pentagon.

The US has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 more in neighbouring Iraq, which are on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of ISIL (ISIS), which took control of large swathes of both countries before it was eventually defeated.

The US is concerned that the Israel-Hamas conflict could spread through the Middle East and leave US troops at isolated bases exposed.

Iran and its supporters say the US shares responsibility for Israel’s declared war against the Palestinian armed group Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.

More than 180,000 people across France, including tens of thousands in Paris, have joined marches to condemn a surge in anti-Semitism amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

As of Saturday, the interior minister said there had been 1,247 anti-Semitic acts since the war began on October 7, nearly three times as many as in the whole of 2022.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, former Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Holland, representatives of several parties on the left, and conservatives and centrists from President Emmanuel Macron’s party attended Sunday’s march in the French capital amid tight security.

Macron did not attend but expressed his support for the protest and called on citizens to rise up against “the unbearable resurgence of unbridled antisemitism”.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, also stayed away, saying that the march would be a meeting of “friends of unconditional support for the massacre” in Gaza. He also questioned the attendance of Marine Le Pen given her party’s roots in anti-Semitism. The party was founded by her father who was convicted of Holocaust denial.

Police said 105,000 people had joined the Paris march, while interior ministry figures put the nationwide figure at 182,000. More than 70 events took place across the country, including in major cities Lyon, Nice and Strasbourg.

“Our order of the day today is… the total fight against anti-Semitism, which is the opposite of the values of the republic,” said Senate Speaker Gerard Larcher, who organised the rallies with lower house Speaker Yael Braun-Pivet, as the marchers set off.

No major incidents were reported.

‘I feel less alone’

Holding a French flag, Robert Fiel said marching against anti-Semitism was “more than a duty”.

“It’s a march against violence, against anti-Semitism, against all [political extremes] that are infiltrating the society, to show that the silent majority does exist,” the 67-year-old said.

“We had grandparents who escaped being transported to the concentration camps, luckily they aren’t here to see that [anti-Semitism] is back,” said Laura Cohen, a marcher in her 30s.

France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, numbering about 500,000 people.

“Everyone should feel like it’s their business” to combat anti-Jewish feeling, France’s chief rabbi Haim Korsia told broadcaster Radio J.

Tensions had been rising in the French capital – home to large Jewish and Muslim communities – since the war began a month ago when the armed group Hamas launched a shock attack on Israel killing about 1,200 people and taking some 240 people captive.

In response, Israel began a bombardment on the densely-populated Gaza Strip that has so far killed at least 11,000 people.

Family members of some of the 40 French citizens killed in the initial Hamas attack, and of those missing or held captive, also took part in the march.

Patrick Klugman, a lawyer and a member of the “Freethem” committee working to obtain the captives’ release, said the large participation in the march was meaningful and symbolic in reassuring Jewish communities in France.

“I am very proud of my country because of this mobilisation,” Klugman said. “I feel less alone than in the past weeks and days.”

Among the recent anti-Semitic acts, Paris prosecutors are investigating an incident on October 31, when buildings in the city and suburbs were daubed with dozens of Stars of David.

The graffiti, which brought back memories of the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II and the deportation of Jews to death camps, was widely condemned.

Sunday’s march took place following a number of pro-Palestinian rallies in Paris calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Macron has recently also joined calls for a ceasefire, urging Israel to stop bombing Gaza.

Medan, Indonesia – Indonesian President Joko Widodo is in the United States this week for a summit with President Joe Biden at the White House, and later to attend the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, amid the continuing Israel-Gaza war.

The visit has prompted questions about whether Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, will call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The issue is particularly heated as the Indonesia Hospital, located in north Gaza, has been encircled by Israeli forces.

The hospital was built in 2011 with donations from Indonesian citizens and organisations, including the Indonesian Red Cross Society and the Muhammadiyah Society, one of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisations. It was officially inaugurated in 2016 by the then-Indonesian vice president, Jusuf Kalla.

Three Indonesian volunteers with the Indonesian humanitarian organisation the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), which organised the donations to build the hospital, are currently based in north Gaza.

However, despite the grim situation in the besieged enclave, experts told Al Jazeera that Widodo was likely to use the visit to the White House to discuss a wide range of issues.

“He will likely discuss several matters related to investment and trade, especially related to the relocation of the capital and critical minerals such as nickel, downstreaming and the production of electric vehicles in Indonesia,” said Ahmad Rizky M Umar, an associate lecturer at the University of Queensland.

Trade and investment

As an outgoing president whose second, and final, term in office will end next year, Widodo is likely to be concerned with securing his legacy and shoring up current projects already in the works, such as plans to relocate 1.5 million of Jakarta’s 11 million residents to East Kalimantan under the new capital city project estimated to cost some $32bn.

Umar added that Widodo would probably also discuss Indonesia’s membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which might make it more attractive to investors given the organisation’s commitment to best practices, as Southeast Asia’s biggest economy looks to lure more US entrepreneurs.

“He will also probably discuss the elevation of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and the United States into a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’,” Umar said.

According to the White House, the theme for this year’s APEC is “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All” with the aim of building “an interconnected, innovative and inclusive” region and advancing “a free, fair and open economic policy agenda that benefits US workers, businesses and families”.

APEC was established in 1989 and has 21 members including Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United States and Vietnam, comprising nearly 3 billion people and contributing 62 percent to the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), while controlling almost half of all global trade.

Indonesia itself is also a major emerging economy which some estimate could rank in the top five economies globally by the middle of the century.

Yohanes Sulaiman, a lecturer in international relations at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani in Bandung, told Al Jazeera that, while Widodo might mention Palestine, it would not be the main topic of conversation.

The US has backed Israel since Hamas launched a surprise wave of attacks on October 7 killing at least 1,200 people and taking at least 200 more captive.

After the assault, Israel declared war on Hamas and has subjected Gaza, home to some 2.3 million people, to relentless bombardment.

More than 11,000 people have been killed.

“I think he will focus on the economy and wider Indonesian relations with the United States. He is not the kind of leader who will get on his soapbox with America. He will want to make sure that relations with the United States are running smoothly,” he said.

“He will be focused on what Indonesia can gain from the visit and not spend too much time on other issues. It will be a transactional meeting.”

An open letter to Widodo

However, much as Widodo may want to focus on economic matters, the thorny issue of the Indonesia Hospital is likely to be difficult to ignore.

“I suspect he will talk about Palestine, especially regarding humanitarian aid and a ceasefire, because Israel itself has accused the Indonesia Hospital of being a Hamas hideout,” University of Queensland lecturer Umar said.

Last week, Israel accused the Indonesia Hospital of harbouring Hamas fighters in tunnels under the building.

Indonesia’s foreign ministry rejected the allegations, saying that the Indonesia Hospital was to “fully” serve Palestinians.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country with 207 million of its 270 million people following Islam. The country does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel and there is no Israeli embassy in Indonesia.

Indonesian citizens and the government have long been seen as sympathetic to the Palestinian cause – hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets of Jakarta in recent weeks to call for a ceasefire – but there have been periodic attempts to thaw relations with Israel, including under former President Abdurrahman Wahid.

On November 11, MER-C issued an open letter to Widodo, calling on him to use his visit to the White House to “save the Indonesia Hospital”.

“Today marks the 36th day of the world witnessing indiscriminate aggression, murder, and mass slaughter of civilians in the Gaza Strip, the majority of whom are women and children […] all hospitals in the Gaza Strip, have fallen victim to the brutality of the Israeli military,” the letter said.

It added that the Indonesia Hospital was trying to operate amid total darkness and a shortage of medications.

MER-C continued that it hoped that Widodo would raise the issue of the hospital during his meeting with Biden, and “exert pressure on the world, especially the United States, to immediately initiate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and save the Indonesia Hospital from Israeli attacks”.

“Will the world and our Indonesian nation continue to remain silent in the face of this?” the letter said.

Gaza’s two largest hospitals have stopped taking new patients due to Israeli bombardment and shortages of medicine and fuel amid reports of rising deaths among patients and medical staff.

Al-Shifa and Al-Quds, Gaza’s biggest and second-biggest hospitals, respectively, said on Sunday that they had suspended operations as the World Health Organisation called for an immediate ceasefire to prevent rising deaths.

Dr Nidal Abu Hadrous, a neurosurgeon working at Al-Shifa Hospital, said patients and staff were facing a “disastrous” situation with no electricity or water and no safe passage out.

“This can’t last long. Urgent intervention to save the staff and the patients is required,” Abu Hadrous told Al Jazeera.

Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza also suspended operations after its main generator ran out of fuel, hospital director Ahmed al-Kahlout told Al Jazeera.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital was “dire and perilous”.

“The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair,”  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X, adding that Al-Shifa was “not functioning as a hospital anymore.”

Three nurses have been killed at Al-Shifa Hospital since Friday amid Israeli bombardment and clashes near the complex, the UN relief agency in the occupied Palestinian territory said in its latest update on Sunday.

Twelve patients, including two premature babies, have also died since the start of power outages, while critical infrastructure, including the cardiovascular facility and maternity ward, has been badly damaged, according to the UN agency.

Gaza’s health ministry has said that three premature newborns have died.

.@WHO has managed to get in touch with health professionals at the Al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza.

The situation is dire and perilous.

It’s been 3 days without electricity, without water and with very poor internet which has severely impacted our ability to provide essential…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 12, 2023

The WHO has said that 600-650 patients, 200-500 health workers and about 1,500 internally displaced people remain at the hospital with no safe passage out.

The patients include 36 babies who are at risk of dying due to the lack of functional incubators, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-governed enclave.

Israeli forces have surrounded medical facilities in the north of Gaza, including Al-Shifa Hospital, which Israeli officials claim is located on top of a Hamas command centre.

Hamas and hospital officials have denied that the complex hides any military infrastructure.

Palestinian officials and people inside the hospital have reported Israeli forces directly targeting the hospital complex with munitions and snipers.

Health Ministry Undersecretary Munir al-Boursh said snipers were firing at any movement inside the compound.

“There are wounded in the house and we can’t reach them,” he told Al Jazeera. “We can’t stick our heads out of the window.”

Israel’s military said on Sunday it offered to evacuate newborn babies and had placed 300 litres (80 gallons) of fuel at the entrance of the hospital, releasing video of its soldiers carrying containers and putting them on the ground, but that Hamas had blocked its efforts.

Hamas denied that it refused the fuel and said the hospital was under the authority of Gaza’s health ministry.

Al-Shifa Hospital director Muhammad Abu Salmiya rejected the Israeli statement as “propaganda”.

“Israel wants to show the world that it is not killing babies. It wants to whitewash its image with 300 litres of fuel, which barely lasts 30 minutes,” Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera.

More than half of the 35 hospitals in Gaza are no longer operational amid Israel’s bombardment and ground operations in the enclave, which were launched in response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks on southern Israeli communities.

Israel’s campaign to eliminate Hamas has killed at least 11,078 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Health officials have not updated the death toll since Friday, citing the collapse of services and communications at hospitals in the enclave.

Hamas has denied refusing an offer of fuel from Israel for Gaza’s biggest hospital, which the World Health Organisation says is “not functioning” due to bombing and gunfire.

The al Shifa hospital’s last generator ran out of fuel at the weekend, leading to the deaths of three premature babies and nine other patients, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

Israel’s military said it had coordinated the delivery of 300 litres (79 gallons) of fuel with hospital officials, but claimed Hamas prevented the hospital from receiving it.

Hamas denied the claim, saying in a statement: “The offer belittles the pain and suffering of the patients who are trapped inside without water, food, or electricity. This quantity is not enough to operate hospital generators for more than 30 minutes.”

Follow updates: Deaths ‘increase significantly’ at Gaza’s largest hospital

Israel has claimed that a Hamas control centre is situated under the hospital, which both medical staff at the hospital and Hamas have repeatedly denied.

A second hospital in Gaza, al Quds, closed to new patients on Sunday.

Three UN agencies have expressed horror at the situation facing Gaza’s hospitals, saying they had recorded at least 137 attacks on healthcare facilities in 36 days resulting in 521 deaths and 686 injuries.

The director-general of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the situation in al Shifa hospital was “dire and perilous” with constant gunfire and bombing exacerbating the already critical circumstances.

“Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore.”

Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati, a plastic surgeon in al Shifa hospital, said the bombing of the building that houses incubators had forced medics to line up premature babies on ordinary beds, using the little power available to turn the air conditioning to warm.

A spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza said the three premature babies who had died were among a total of 45 being kept in incubators at al Shifa.

“We are expecting to lose more of them day by day,” said Dr El Mokhallalati.

Hamas said earlier on Sunday that it had suspended hostage negotiations with Israel over the country’s handling of the worsening situation at al Shifa hospital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News that Israel will not agree to a ceasefire unless all 239 Israeli hostages believed to be trapped in Gaza are released.

“We have set a specific target and that is to destroy Hamas’s military capabilities and its governance capabilities,” Mr Netanyahu said.

“That is something we are achieving step by step.”

He also said a “great deal” is known about the location of the hostages – but he would not reveal any further details.

Mr Netanyahu continued to outline Israel’s post-war plans for Gaza – which are starkly at odds with its closest ally, the US.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US opposes an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and envisions a unified Palestinian government in Gaza and the West Bank as a step toward a Palestinian state – long opposed by Netanyahu’s government.

In France and the UK, protests relating to the Israel-Hamas conflict have sparked controversy over the weekend.

More than 180,000 people across France, including 100,000 in Paris, protested against rising antisemitism in the country.

Family members of some of the 40 French citizens killed in the initial Hamas attack, and of those missing or held hostage, also took part in the march.

Authorities in France, which has the largest Jewish population in Europe, have counted 1,247 antisemitic acts since 7 October – nearly three times as many as in the whole of 2022, according to the interior ministry.

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The country has banned several pro-Palestinian demonstrations, although supporters have marched in several French cities in recent weeks.

The fallout from the Armistice Day protests in London on Saturday also continued with Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy saying: “I don’t think London has ever seen such a large demonstration of rape apologists before.”

More than 300,000 people marched in the pro-Palestinian demonstration.

The main protest was largely peaceful but violent skirmishes broke out between the Metropolitan Police and counter-protesters from various right-wing groups.

Seven people were charged with various offences on Sunday following the protests.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has said seven IDF soldiers were “lightly injured” following mortar shell launches by Hezbollah in northern Israel on Sunday.

Ten other people were also wounded by rocket blasts and shrapnel, with two in critical condition, Israeli rescue services said.

Read more on Sky News:
Red Cross surgeon in Gaza gives harrowing account of child amputation
How does Hamas count those who have been killed?
Hezbollah’s leader threatens escalation

The Israeli Defence Forces said it had identified 15 launches in an hour from Lebanon – where the powerful militant group Hezbollah is based – and had intercepted four.

The rest fell into open areas, it said.

Israeli officials earlier said Hezbollah had fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli community just over the border, badly wounding utility workers.

The Israeli military said it was responding by striking the origin of the launch with artillery fire.

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon also said one of its members near the town of al Qawzah in southern Lebanon had been wounded in a shooting.