VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian government, with several humanitarian agencies, is ready to send humanitarian assistance for Gaza Strip's residents affected by the latest conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group, Hamas.

"This is in line with President Joko Widodo's order to Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi to coordinate the delivery of aid to Gaza, both from the government and from the community," spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, stated in a press conference on Wednesday.

Iqbal remarked that the humanitarian aid will comprise goods needed by the Palestinian people and will be delivered at the end of this week. The details of the aid delivery are still being discussed between the government and several organizations involved.

"This aid will be sent to Egypt first and handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent, then distributed to Gaza by UNRWA. Egyptian Red Crescent is the only organization allowed to deliver aid into Gaza," Iqbal remarked.

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) had also contributed to sending humanitarian aid comprising healthy kit, generators, and oxygen cylinders worth Rp2.9 billion to Gaza residents.

"Until now, we are still waiting for approval from the UN agency that can confirm what types of aid can enter Gaza," PMI officer Niniek Kun Naryatie remarked.

Meanwhile, the Indonesia Humanitarian Alliance (IHA) has collected support of up to Rp5 billion from the community that will be distributed in stages to Gaza.

In the first period, IHA will provide assistance in the form of ready-to-eat food, blankets, and mattresses. The delivery will be coordinated with the government this weekend.

The National Alms Agency (Baznas) was also able to collect public donations amounting to Rp10 billion and will continue to collect donations until reaching the target of Rp20 billion.

These funds were collected not only through Baznas representative offices spread across all provinces, districts, and cities in Indonesia but also from individual collection partners, including the Kitabisa platform, ayobantu.com, Shopee, Tokopedia, Bukalapak, and Blibli.

"It is our responsibility to ensure this aid delivery to Gaza. According to the aid items recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we will send food, medicine, hygiene kits, clothes, and blankets," Baznas' Deputy for Distribution and Utilization, Imdadun Rahmat, stated.

Plans to send Indonesian humanitarian aid to Gaza are still being coordinated, especially by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance through the International Development Cooperation Fund (LDKPI), the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Health, Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), and the National Police. (Antaranews)

VOInews, Jakarta: The Indonesian government continues to communicate with various parties to find out the latest situation in Gaza, Palestine and the process of evacuating Indonesian citizens (WNI) and humanitarian assistance.

"So from morning (Wednesday, November 1, 2023) we continue to communicate with various parties to find out the situation on the ground and how we can evacuate our citizens," Foreign Minister Retno said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday (1/11/2023).

Retno explained that the condition of Indonesian citizens in Gaza is in good condition in a situation where the conflict is still ongoing. The Indonesian government also continues to communicate with Indonesian citizens amidst network limitations.

"Good here does not mean good like us, sitting in this room. It's good in the midst of a very bad situation. We continue to make contact with them, and the contact is also on and off. Sometimes it's on, sometimes it's off because of the situation, so communication is not always smooth," Retno said.

By continuing to coordinate with many parties, Foreign Minister Retno said that the Indonesian government will evacuate the Indonesian citizens immediately.

"Today since early morning, we continue to make contact in the field to try to evacuate. Of course, we convey this information after we make contact with many parties. It is possible that the evacuation will be carried out today," she said.

By continuing to coordinate with many parties, Foreign Minister Retno said that the Indonesian government will evacuate the Indonesian citizens immediately.

"Today since early morning, we continue to make contact in the field to try to evacuate. Of course, we convey this information after we make contact with many parties. It is possible that the evacuation will be carried out today," he said.

Meanwhile, regarding humanitarian aid, the Indonesian government plans to send it to Gaza by the end of this week.

"And these goods that we send are in accordance with their requests or needs," explained the Indonesian Foreign Minister.

Foreign Minister Retno also explained that the humanitarian assistance sent not only came from the Indonesian government but also from humanitarian organizations in Indonesia.

"Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to the ladies and gentlemen from humanitarian organizations in Indonesia who have been pleased to join us, showing a sense of humanitarian solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Gaza," she said.

VOINews, Jakarta - More foreigners prepared to leave the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday as its Hamas-run government said at least 195 Palestinians died in Israel's attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp, strikes that U.N. human rights officials said could be war crimes.

At least 320 foreign citizens on an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt on Wednesday under a deal among Israel, Egypt and Hamas.

Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were in the evacuation.

Gaza border officials said the border crossing would reopen on Thursday so more foreigners could exit. A diplomatic source said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over about two weeks.

Pressing an offensive against Hamas militants, Israel has bombed Gaza by land, sea and air in its campaign to wipe out Hamas after the Islamist group's cross-border rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel said Hamas killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages.

The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since Oct. 7.

Explosions were heard in the early hours of Thursday around the al-Quds hospital in densely populated Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. Israeli authorities had previously warned the hospital to evacuate immediately, which U.N. officials said was impossible without endangering patients.

TWO HAMAS COMMANDERS KILLED, SAYS ISRAEL

Israel said its strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday killed two Hamas military leaders in Jabalia, Gaza's biggest refugee camp. Israel said the group had command centres and other "terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians".

Gaza's Hamas-run media office said on Thursday that at least 195 Palestinians were killed in the two Israeli attacks on Jabalia, with 120 missing under the rubble. At least 777 people were wounded, it said in a statement.

Palestinians on Wednesday sifted through rubble in a desperate hunt for trapped victims. "It is a massacre," said one witness.

U.N. human rights officials said strikes on the camp could be a war crime.

"Given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following Israeli air strikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes," the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote on social media site X.

The Israeli military said one soldier was killed in Gaza on Wednesday. Fifteen were killed on Tuesday.

Amid growing international calls for a humanitarian pause in hostilities, conditions in the seaside enclave are increasingly desperate under Israel's assault and tightened blockade. Food, fuel, drinking water and medicine have run short.

Dr Fathi Abu al-Hassan, a U.S. passport holder waiting to cross into Egypt on Wednesday, described hellish conditions in Gaza without water, food or shelter.

"We open our eyes on dead people and we close our eyes on dead people," he said.

Hospitals have struggled as shortages of fuel forced shutdowns including Gaza's only cancer hospital. Israel has refused to let humanitarian convoys bring in fuel, citing concern that Hamas fighters would divert it for military purposes.

Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry, said the main power generator at the Indonesian Hospital was no longer functioning due to lack of fuel.

The hospital was switching to a back-up generator but would no longer be able to power mortuary refrigerators and oxygen generators. "If we don't get fuel in the next few days, we will inevitably reach a disaster," he said.

U.S. DIPLOMAT DEPARTS FOR ISRAEL, AGAIN

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to depart on Thursday for his second visit to Israel in less than a month. He plans to meet Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to voice solidarity but also to reassert the need to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties, his spokesperson said.

Blinken will also stop in Jordan, one of a handful of Arab states to have normalised relations with Israel. On Wednesday Jordan withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv until Israel ends its assault on Gaza. Israel said it regretted Jordan's decision.

In Jordan, Blinken will underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives and reiterate a U.S. commitment to ensure Palestinians are not forcibly displaced from Gaza, a growing concern of the Arab world, the spokesman said.

He will pursue talks led by Egypt and Qatar on securing the release of all of the hostages held by Hamas.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives could pass with Republican support a bill providing $14.3 billion in aid for Israel.

But it is unlikely to become law, as it faces stiff opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has threatened a veto. President Joe Biden wants a $106-billion bill that would fund Ukraine, border security and humanitarian aid as well as money for Israel. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with their Indian counterparts later this month in New Delhi to discuss "concerns and developments in the Indo-Pacific", the State Department said on Wednesday.

The meeting with India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the country's defense minister Rajnath Singh comes amid tensions between the United States and China in the Indo-Pacific region. (Reuters)