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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.

As the war enters, its 628th day, these are the main developments.

Here is the situation on Monday, November 13, 2023.

Fighting

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned Ukrainians to prepare for Russia to attack the country’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches in a repeat of last year’s relentless attacks on the power grid that left hundreds of thousands without heating or electricity in the coldest months of the year. “We must be prepared for the possibility that the enemy may increase the number of drone or missile strikes on our infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said in his daily address. “All our attention should be focused on defence… The Ukrainian air shield is already stronger than last year.”
• On Saturday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital came under air attack for the first time in nearly two months. No major damage or casualties were reported in Kyiv itself, but some buildings were damaged in the Kyiv region.
• Ukraine and Russia reported intensified fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia in May after months of heavy battles. The head of Ukraine’s ground forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Moscow’s forces were “more active” and “trying to recover lost positions”. Russian accounts of the fighting said its forces had repelled five Ukrainian attacks near the ruined city.
• Ukrainian military intelligence said an explosion killed at least three Russian servicemen in the Russian-occupied southern town of Melitopol, which it described as an “act of revenge” by resistance groups.
• Russian law enforcement said it had begun a “terrorism” investigation after a goods train was derailed by an improvised explosive device in the Ryazan region southwest of Moscow. Some 19 carriages travelling from the town of Rybnoye were thrown from the tracks and 15 were damaged, investigators wrote in a statement on social media.
• Moscow accused Ukraine of carrying out a series of attacks in Russia’s border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod, damaging five railway carriages and injuring one person in the town of Valuyki some 30km (19 miles) from the border.

• A Ukrainian special forces commander played a key role in sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September last year, according to a joint investigation by Der Spiegel and the Washington Post. Ukraine has denied being behind the attack.

Politics and diplomacy

• Ukraine presidential aide Andriy Yermak said he had arrived in the United States with a delegation headed by Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko for talks on cooperation and support. “I will have meetings in the White House, Congress, think tanks and with representatives of civil society organisations,” Yermak said, with discussions being focused on issues including “the President’s formula for peace” and strengthening Ukraine’s defence.

Weapons

• The German government has agreed in principle to double the country’s military aid for Ukraine next year to 8 billion euros ($8.5 billion), a political source told the Reuters news agency. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, interviewed by broadcaster ARD, referred to the planned doubling of military aid to Ukraine as sending “a strong signal to Ukraine that we will not leave them in the lurch”. The plan needs parliamentary approval.

Rescue efforts are under way to reach workers trapped in tunnel collapse in India’s Uttarakhand state.

Dozens of construction workers are feared trapped after the road tunnel they were building collapsed in northern India’s Uttarakhand state, with rescuers scrambling to reach them beneath piles of debris.

“About 40 to 41 workers are trapped inside. Oxygen is being supplied through the debris, but more rubble is coming down as rescuers try to remove the obstruction,” State disaster response official, Durgesh Rathodi, told the AFP news agency.

Local media, however, reported that up to 36 people were believed to be trapped in the tunnel, which partially collapsed at 4am on Sunday (22:30 GMT on Saturday) as a result of a landslide. Nearly 200 metres (14.8 feet) of the 4.5km (2.8-mile) long tunnel appear to have caved in, according to media reports.

The incident occurred during a shift change at the Yamunotri national aighway in the Himalayan state when a group of workers were moving out and replacement workers were going in.

The tunnel is being constructed between Silkyara and Dandalgaon to connect two of the holiest Hindu shrines of Uttarkashi and Yamnotri.

Photographs released by the government rescue teams showed huge piles of concrete blocking the wide tunnel, with twisted metal bars on its broken roof poking down in front of the rubble.

“Pray to god that those workers trapped inside the tunnel are brought out safely,” Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami wrote on social media platform X.

A local police officer told the Press Trust of India news agency they were “very optimistic” the men would be rescued safely, but added it was “difficult to say how long it will take”.

Accidents on large infrastructure construction sites are common in India.

Earlier this year, Indian authorities evacuated hundreds of people from their homes in Joshimath town, also located in Uttarakhand state, after buildings in the area popular with pilgrims and tourists developed cracks.

In 2021, more than 200 people, most of them construction workers, were killed after part of a glacier broke away sweeping away two hydroelectric projects in Raini village of Uttarakhand state.

Construction of major roads to improve access to religious sites and the Chinese border area, as well as the building of tunnels, are believed to be some of the reasons behind the landslides and glacier bursts.