AFP Asia Business

Indonesia president says ready to temporarily shelter Gazans

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday said he was prepared to grant temporary shelter to Palestinians affected by the war in Gaza between the Israeli military and the territory’s rulers Hamas.Nearly 400,000 Gaza residents have been displaced in the weeks since Israel resumed military operations in the territory last month, according to the United Nations. “We are ready to receive wounded victims,” Prabowo said before leaving for a Middle East visit to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan.”We are ready to send planes to transport them. We estimate the numbers may be 1,000 for the first wave.”Wounded Palestinians and “traumatised, orphaned children” would be prioritised, he said.He said he had instructed his foreign minister to talk with Palestinian officials and “parties in the region” on how to evacuate wounded or orphaned Gazans.The victims would only be in Indonesia until they recovered and it was safe for their return.Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has consistently called for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.According to Turkish media, Prabowo will be afforded the rare opportunity to address the Turkish parliament.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the main backers of the Palestinian cause and visited Indonesia in February, where the pair pledged closer ties.

UN chief says Gaza transformed into ‘killing field’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that Gaza had become “a killing field” because Israel has continued to block aid, an accusation an Israeli official quickly denied, saying there was “no shortage” of aid. “More than an entire month has passed without a drop of aid into Gaza. No food. No fuel. No medicine. No commercial supplies. As aid has dried up, the floodgates of horror have re-opened,” Guterres said in remarks to journalists.Pointing to the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of people in war, Guterres emphasized the obligation of the “occupying power” to ensure the provision of food and medical supplies to the population.”None of that is happening today. No humanitarian supplies can enter Gaza,” Guterres said.Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oren Marmorstein rejected the allegations, saying there was “no shortage of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.”Marmorstein further alleged that Hamas has used recent aid to Gaza to “rebuild its war machine.”Guterres also referenced recent Israeli proposals over controlling aid into Gaza, which a UN source told AFP included monitoring calories to prevent misuse by Hamas.”The Israeli authorities newly proposed ‘authorization mechanisms’ for aid delivery risk further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour,” he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.”Let me be clear — we will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles — humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” Guterres said, demanding guarantees for the unhindered entry of aid to the coastal territory.Guterres also raised the alarm about the situation in the West Bank.”The current path is a dead end — totally intolerable in the eyes of international law and history,” he said. “And the risk of the occupied West Bank transforming into another Gaza makes it even worse.”It is time to end the dehumanization, protect civilians, release the hostages, ensure lifesaving aid, and renew the ceasefire.”

Israel supreme court sets deadline for solution on security chief dismissal

Israel’s supreme court on Tuesday gave the cabinet and attorney general’s office a deadline to find a solution to the government’s hotly-contested decision to sack domestic security chief Ronen Bar.Following an hours-long hearing which was briefly interrupted with protests from government supporters and critics, Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit told the two sides to find a compromise.”Since we saw some sparks of willingness here… we are giving you until after Passover (after April 19) to try to reach some kind of creative solution that is agreed upon” by both sides, Amit said.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last month that his government had unanimously approved a motion to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, citing “lack of trust” and requiring Bar to leave his post by April 10.In its ruling, the supreme court said Bar “will continue to perform his duties until a later decision,” adding “there is nothing to prevent interviews with candidates for the post, without announcing an appointment”.Netanyahu said the court’s ruling “to delay the end of the Shin Bet chief’s term by 10 days is puzzling.”The hearing on Tuesday followed petitions filed by opposition parties and non-profit groups, challenging the legality of the government’s move which the Supreme Court had already frozen until it issues a ruling.Protests were held outside the Jerusalem courtroom, and inside, shouts and interruptions forced the judges to halt proceedings after only 30 minutes.”No court in the world is run this way,” Amit said after warning government supporters and critics who interrupted the hearing, which was broadcast live.Amit called for a recess, during which scuffles between the sides continued outside the courtroom.The hearing resumed about an hour later, with no audience, “to allow the right to argue without fear for all parties involved”, according to the judges.Attorney Zion Amir, representing the government, said that “this is purely a political petition”.Bar has pushed back against the government’s move to sack him, dismissing Netanyahu’s arguments as “general, unsubstantiated accusations” motivated by “personal interest”.Bar said the decision was meant to “prevent investigations into the events leading up to October 7 and other serious matters” being looked at by the Shin Bet, referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.- ‘Anti-democracy’ -Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has also cautioned that ousting Bar was “tainted by a personal conflict of interest on the part of the prime minister due to the criminal investigations involving his associates”.Baharav-Miara was referring to a case, dubbed “Qatargate” by Israeli media, involving Netanyahu’s close advisers under investigation for allegedly receiving money from the Gulf emirate which has long hosted the political office of Hamas.Tomer Naor, from the Movement for Quality Government in Israel which submitted one of the petitions, told AFP that “Netanyahu is under a severe conflict of interest”.Dov Halbertal, a lawyer who came to watch the hearing, said that “Netanyahu is the ruler, he can fire whoever he wants, especially this Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet that is responsible for the massacre” of October 7, 2023.The fact that the court was hearing the petitions was “anti-democracy”, he said.Baharav-Miara, who has often clashed with the Netanyahu administration over the independence of the judiciary, said that firing Bar could lead to the politicisation of the powerful position.Appointed Shin Bet chief in October 2021 by the previous government, led by opponents of Netanyahu, Bar has clashed with the long-serving incumbent since his return to power in late 2022.Bar was critical of a government proposal to reform the judiciary, which drew hundreds of thousands of Israelis onto the streets in protest and was temporarily shelved when the Gaza war began with Hamas’s attack.Bar, who was meant to end his tenure next year, had suggested he would consider stepping down early due to his part in failing to prevent the October 7 attack, but only once the war ended and the hostages held in Gaza were freed.

Iran says deal can be reached if US shows goodwill

Iran said Tuesday a new nuclear deal could be agreed with the United States provided Tehran’s longtime adversary shows sufficient goodwill in upcoming talks, as Israel warned of military action if talks drag on.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s principal aim remained the lifting of sweeping US sanctions. Their reimposition by President Donald Trump in 2018 has dealt a heavy blow to the Iranian economy.Trump made the surprise announcement that his administration would open talks with Iran during a White House meeting on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country is an arch foe of Tehran.Trump said the talks would be “direct” but Araghchi insisted his negotiations with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday would be “indirect”.”We will not accept any other form of negotiation,” Araghchi told official media. “The format of the negotiations… is not the most important thing in my view. What really counts is the effectiveness or otherwise of the talks.”If the other side shows enough of the necessary willingess, a deal can be found,” he said. “The ball is in America’s court.”- ‘Military option inevitable’ -Following his meeting with Trump, Netanyahu said in a video statement on Tuesday that “we agree that Iran will not have nuclear weapons”.”This can be done in an agreement, but only if… they go in, blow up (Iran’s) facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision”, he said, adding that if talks drag on, “then the military option becomes inevitable”.Netanyahu was a bitter opponent of the 2015 agreement between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States which Trump later abandoned.In a column in The Washington Post on Tuesday, Araghchi wrote: “To move forward today, we first need to agree that there can be no ‘military option,’ let alone a ‘military solution’.””For its part, the United States can show that it is serious about diplomacy by showing that it will stick to any deal it makes. If we are shown respect, we will reciprocate it,” he continued.Trump’s announcement came after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country’s nuclear activities, calling the idea pointless.In Iran, some appeared wary but hopeful that the talks would yield results.”Given the intense pressure on the population today, it seems that government officials have realized that the only solution is to negotiate directly with the United States,” said lawyer Fatemeh Rezai, 28.”I hope these negotiations will lead to a (positive) outcome and that we will all get through this situation safe and sound.”- ‘Great danger’ -In tough messaging ahead of the meeting, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce insisted that Witkoff would deliver a message against Iran’s nuclear programme and not look for a back and forth.”On Saturday, there’s a meeting. There’s no negotiations,” she said.Trump said Monday that Iran would be in “great danger” if the talks fail.In an interview with US network NBC late last month, Trump went further, saying: “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing.”China and Russia held consultations with Iran in Moscow on Tuesday, after which the Kremlin welcomed the planned talks.Key Iranian ally Russia welcomed the prospect of negotiations for a new nuclear accord, which would replace the deal with major powers that was unilaterally abandoned by Trump in 2018.”Of course, this can only be welcomed because it can lead to de-escalation of tensions around Iran,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Moscow “absolutely” supported the initiative.China called on the United States to “stop its wrong practice of using force to exert extreme pressure” after Trump threatened Iran with bombing if it fails to agree a deal.As the country that withdrew from the nuclear deal, “the United States should demonstrate political sincerity (and)… mutual respect,” its foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.That deal saw Iran receive relief from international sanctions in return for restrictions on its nuclear activities overseen by the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.Trump’s withdrawal from the deal was followed by an Iranian decision one year later to stop complying with its own obligations under the deal.The result has been that Iran has built up large stocks of highly enriched uranium that leave it a short step from weapons grade.burs/jsa-sct/ysm