VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A picture taken in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on Dec 7, 2023, shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment on Gaza, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo: AFP/Menahem Kahana)  - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Israel battled Hamas militants in Gaza's biggest cities on Thursday (Dec 7) and said it had attacked dozens of targets, leaving Palestinians struggling to survive, a situation the United Nations described as "apocalyptic".

Gazans crammed into neighbouring Rafah on the border with Egypt on the basis of Israeli leaflets and messages saying that they would be safe in the city. But they remained fearful after an Israeli strike on a house there killed 15 on Wednesday, according to health officials in Rafah.

Israel said on Thursday it had killed a number of gunmen in southern Gaza's largest city, Khan Younis, including two militants who emerged firing from a tunnel, a day after Israeli troops entered the heart of the city. Hamas' armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said earlier that combat was fierce.

Palestinian health officials said an Israeli air strike had killed four people in a house in Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip overnight and another strike killed two people in Khan Younis on Thursday morning.

Residents in Gaza City in the north reported all-night bombing and fierce gunbattles in Shejaia, east of the centre and the Jabalia refugee camp further north as well as bombing in another district, Sabra.

Israel said it had raided a Hamas compound in Jabalia, killing several gunmen and locating a network of tunnels, a training area and a weapons cache.

In Khan Younis, Israeli forces had encircled the house of Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday evening.

"His home may not be his castle, and he can escape, but it's only a matter of time before we get him," he said in a video statement.

Khan Younis residents said Israeli tanks had neared Sinwar's home but it was not known whether he was there. Israel has said it believes many Hamas leaders and fighters are holed up in underground tunnels.

Israeli warplanes also bombed targets across the densely populated coastal strip in one of the heaviest phases of the two-month-old war. WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, said late on Wednesday at least 17 were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Maghazi in Central Gaza.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network said an Israeli bombardment of Jabalia Camp in northern Gaza killed 22 relatives of its Gaza correspondent Moamen Al-Sharafi.

In Geneva, the UN human rights chief said the situation in Gaza was "apocalyptic" with the risk that serious rights violations were being committed by both sides.

Hundreds of thousands of people made homeless in north Gaza during the war were desperately seeking shelter in the few places in the south designated as safe by Israel.

The UN humanitarian office said on Wednesday that most of the homeless people in Rafah, about 13km south of Khan Younis, were sleeping rough due to a lack of tents although the UN had managed to distribute a few hundred.

While some aid had entered Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, the surge in hostilities since a week-long truce collapsed on Dec 1 was hindering its distribution, the UN report said//CNA-VOI

The library opening ceremony in Nganjuk, East Java - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Welfare conditions due to poverty are a strong reason for the National Library to carry out a paradigm shift by launching the Social Inclusion Based Library Transformation (TPBIS) program since 2018. The social inclusion program provides opportunities for the community to develop their abilities through reading materials and assistance provided by the library.

"Social inclusion is an approach based on a social system approach or a humanistic approach," said National Library Main Librarian Sri Sumekar when attending the inauguration of public library service facilities with the Regional Secretary of Nganjuk Regency Nur Solekan, on Thursday (7/12/2023) .

The inclusive approach views libraries as a social sub-system in the social system. For this reason, libraries must be designed so that they have high useful value in society. Through an inclusive approach, public libraries are able to become an open space for the community to obtain solutions in an effort to improve quality of life and welfare. To date, 4,500 National Library partners have been registered in TPBIS management

"TPBIS involves 3,476,985 community members in library activities in 3,985 villages/sub-districts spread across 399 districts/cities," added Sri Sumekar.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday, the positive impact of TPBIS is a decrease in the poor population in villages by 0.21% compared to data as of September 2022 (source BPS, 2023). And what is also proud of this program is that no less than 18 districts/cities and 1,125 villages/sub-districts have replicated the TPBIS program.

Simply put, the TPBIS program changes the library paradigm, which previously was only limited to services, now everything has moved towards transformation in improving social welfare.

"The world, through the international library organization, IFLA, appreciates the program created by Peprusnas and has become a model for other countries," said Sri.

Academic from IAI Diponegoro, Sophingi, added that literacy is indeed the key to human resource development. The presence of libraries cannot be underestimated in developing literacy in society. Therefore, libraries are expected to develop quickly to adapt to increasingly fast technology.

"In fact, there is one village in Nganjuk, namely Klagen Village, which has become a literacy field because a women's school has been established which is provided with teaching and assistance from the TPBIS program," said Sophingi.

Literacy activities in Nganjuk Regency can be said to be quite good, considering that the majority of local writers are students and school teachers. Students are required to write at least one written work per class, which is then collected in the form of an anthology.

"As a result, 50 books have been published by students in Kertosono, Nganjuk, which are equipped with ISBNs," said literacy activist Sigit Priyanto.

The construction of the Nganjuk Regency public library service building facilities cost IDR 9 billion, sourced from the 2022 APBN through special allocation funds (DAK). However, the Nganjuk Regional Secretary requested that in 2025 another budget be allocated to complete the library service building in the form of infrastructure.

“Good, services for people with disabilities are equipped. "But I hope that the digital space can also be filled next year," asked Solekan.

So far, strong efforts have been shown by the Nganjuk Regency Library and Archives Service, such as the Dongkel Beras service program (Traveling Fairy Tales with Children), mobile libraries, Martabak (Reading Various Stories with Children), Car Free Day library services, and e-book outreach via the e-pusda application//VOI

VOInews, Jakarta: Israel, which previously focused on North Gaza, has now decided to expand its attacks to South Gaza. This was conveyed by the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) Herzi Halevi as quoted from various media.

Related to this, Director of Protection of Indonesian Citizens (PWNI) of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Judha Nugraha said the Indonesian government regrets the statement and ensures that it will continue to monitor the situation on the ground.

"We continue to monitor the situation in the field, it is true that the IDF began launching attacks on southern Gaza. For the people of Indonesia, this is very regrettable. We strongly condemn attacks on civilians, civilians and civilian facilities," Judha Nugraha told RRI Voice of Indonesia on Wednesday (6/12/2023) in Jakarta.

He also said that Indonesia continues to take diplomatic steps to encourage the creation of a permanent ceasefire and easy access for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.

"We continue to carry out diplomacy to encourage the immediate creation of a permanent ceasefire. And unimpeded aid," he continued.

Regarding Indonesian citizens in the West Bank, Judha also confirmed that the Indonesians, the majority of whom are students, are in good condition. And so far there has been no request for evacuation but the Indonesian government continues to monitor the situation there.

"Currently there are still 123 of our citizens living in the West Bank and its surroundings. At the point of Israeli territory, the majority of them are students, there are 94 and 123 of them who are in southern Israel, the border of Egypt, Jordan. They go to school there. Agricultural school. Their condition is good," he concluded.