Puluhan rumah di 3 kecamatan di Aceh Singkil terendam banjir akibat hujan deras yang turun di wilayah tersebut pada hari Sabtu, 14/10/2023. Ketinggian air diperkirakan sekitar 50 sentimeter.
“Kondisi sampai saat ini air masih menggenangi rumah-rumah warga,” kata Kepala Pelaksana BPBA Ilyas melalui Pusat Pengendalian Operasi Penanggulangan Bencana (Pusdalops PB) di Banda Aceh, Sabtu, malam.
Ia menjelaskan peristiwa banjir di Aceh Singkil mulai terjadi pada Sabtu (14/10) sekitar pukul 01.00 WIB. Akibat hujan deras terus mengguyur daerah itu, maka banjir terus meluas ke sejumlah gampong, dengan ketinggian air mulai 50 centimeter hingga 2 meter.
Adapun desa yang terdampak di antaranya Gampong Ujung Limus, Cabubukan, dan Tanjung Mas di Kecamatan Simpang Kanan. Kemudian Gampong Sianjo Anjo dan Rimo di Kecamatan Gunung Meriah.
“Kondisi terakhir di Kecamatan Gunung Meriah banjir dengan ketinggian air kurang lebih 2 meter dan untuk kendaraan roda dua dan roda empat saat ini tidak bisa melintas,” ujarnya.
Selain merendam rumah penduduk, kata Ilyas, banjir juga merendam jalan penghubung antar gampong dan fasilitas umum seperti sekolah, masjid, kantor desa dan Puskesmas Pembantu (Pustu).
Data sementara BPBD Aceh Singkil, korban terdampak sebanyak 370 jiwa dalam 160 Kepala Keluarga (KK) di Kecamatan Gunung Meriah. Tidak ada korban jiwa dalam peristiwa itu, petugas BPBD juga masih terus melakukan pendataan korban terdampak banjir.
“BPBD Kabupaten Aceh Singkil sedang melakukan pendataan di lokasi banjir,” ujarnya.
Sebelumnya, Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG) menyebut wilayah Aceh pada Oktober ini sudah mulai memasuki musim penghujan, sehingga masyarakat diminta untuk meningkatkan kewaspadaan terhadap potensi banjir dan tanah longsor.
“(Aceh) sudah mulai memasuki musim penghujan,” kata Prakirawan BMKG Kelas I Sultan Iskandar Muda Aceh Besar Nuria Arifiani.
Dalam beberapa hari ke depan, kondisi cuaca di wilayah Aceh berpotensi mengalami hujan deras, yang dipicu adanya belokan angin (shearline) yang menyebabkan penumpukan massa udara sehingga menimbulkan hujan.
Adapun wilayah yang berpotensi hujan deras disertai petir meliputi Simeulue, Banda Aceh, Gayo Lues, Aceh Barat Daya, Aceh Besar, Pidie Jaya, Aceh Tenggara, Sabang, Aceh Tengah, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Selatan, dan Pidie,
Kemudian Kabupaten Aceh Barat, Nagan Raya, Bireuen, Aceh Singkil, Langsa, Bener Meriah, Aceh Utara, Lhokseumawe, Aceh Tamiang, dan Subulussalam.
“Ini wilayah-wilayah yang perlu waspada potensi bencana hidrometeorologi seperti banjir dan tanah longsor,” katanya.
"Kita sudah menurunkan tim ke lokasi, untuk memantau dan berkoordinasi," kata Pusdalops Badan Penanggulan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) Aceh Singkil, Rosiana Kusuma, hari Sabtu, 14/10/2023.
Rosiana menambahkan, sejauh ini belum ada laporan korban jiwa dari bencana alam tersebut. Bahkan masyarakat masih memilih bertahan di rumah masing-masing.
The hurricane that hit parts of the west coast of Florida on Thursday morning, October 12 2023, caused damage to cars, homes and businesses.
Police in Clearwater said in a social media post that no injuries were reported when two possible tornadoes touched down around 2 a.m. Thursday. Photos shared by the agency showed gutters from a home that pierced the windshield of a car.
Officials canceled public school classes for the day.
"The west side of Citrus County has experienced significant damage from an unconfirmed tornado(s) which hit the area overnight," school officials said in a Facebook post shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday.
Deputies were directing traffic Thursday morning due to multiple road closures caused by the storm, the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said on social media. A portion of U.S Highway 19, which is a major thoroughfare through the mostly rural county, was closed due to storm damage.
The storms kept tracking east across the state, reaching parts of northeast Florida Thursday morning. The Flagler County Sheriff's office said there was "significant damage" but no injuries in Palm Coast on Florida's Atlantic coast.
More damage was reported from a separate potential tornado around 65 miles north in Crystal River. Citrus County officials said several roads were closed there because of downed power lines, trees, and debris.
Forecasters had previously warned that hazardous weather conditions were expected to cover the region through early Thursday, with many given notice that power outages were likely to affect many communities.
Severe weather that erupted overnight Thursday in Florida prompted multiple reported tornadoes to level widespread damages to homes and businesses along both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the Sunshine State.
A likely tornado hit Florida's Clearwater Beach, damaging at least two homes. Although no one was injured, images from the scene captured the chaos, with debris strewn across streets and a home's gutter impaling a car's windshield.
However, the destruction didn't end there; Dunedin, located north of Clearwater Beach, reported downed power lines and buildings with missing walls and blown-out windows.
The US National Weather Service has indicated it will assess the damage to confirm if it was indeed caused by a tornado and to determine its strength.
Around 65 miles north in Crystal River, Florida, a reported twister wreaked havoc on the town, damaging and destroying numerous businesses and homes. The area miraculously escaped reports of major injuries or deaths, though the destruction was substantial. Most of the closed roads in Citrus County have since reopened, but school was canceled due to the severity of damages.
Storms have continued eastward, reaching parts of northeast Florida. An EF2 tornado with sustained winds of 115 miles per hour carved a mile-long path of damage through Palm Coast, causing significant damages to infrastructure but no injuries to local residents.
Millions of Floridians were under a tornado watch during the peak of the threat, with the potential for heavy rain and strong thunderstorms throughout the day.
Although the storm system was expected to move off into the Atlantic waters during the early afternoon, residents remained on high alert as the tumultuous weather continued to affect the region
The Palestinian Hamas movement appreciates the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow's efforts to settle the situation in the Gaza Strip, according to the group’s statement published on its Telegram channel.
"Hamas appreciates Russian President Vladimir Putin's position on the ongoing Zionist aggression against our people and the fact that he does not accept the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the stoppage of humanitarian aid and the attack on unarmed civilians. We also affirm that we welcome Russia's tireless efforts to stop the systematic and barbaric Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," the statement said.
Earlier, the Russian leader said that Israel has been subjected to a brutal attack, but the settlement of the conflict is possible only through the establishment of an independent Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. He also noted that in the event of a ground operation in Gaza, civilian casualties would be unacceptable.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, for his part, pointed out that the forced evacuation of Gaza residents was a violation of human rights. He added that the exchange of blows between Israel and Palestine should stop.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian Hamas movement staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip as it has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria.
According to the latest official data, more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed since the renewed outbreak of violence, while over 7,700 others have suffered wounds. In Israel, over 1,500 people have lost their lives and roughly 4,000 have been wounded in clashes, including on the West Bank of the Jordan River.
Who Does Russia Support in Palestinian-Israeli Conflict?
Moscow has expressed readiness to help mediate a negotiated end to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. But where do Russia’s true sympathies lie, both historically and in the present moment? Is a Russian-negotiated resolution to the conflict a real possibility? Sputnik digs through the details, and the history, for answers.
“Right now the most important thing [in the Palestinian-Israeli crisis] is to stop the bloodshed. Collective efforts are more than needed in the interests of an early ceasefire and stabilization of the situation on the ground,” Russian President Putin said Friday at a CIS heads of state meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
“I would like to emphasize that Russia is ready to coordinate with all constructively-minded partners. We proceed from the view that there is no alternative to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through negotiations,” Putin said, adding that an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza would result in “absolutely unacceptable” civilian casualties.
The goal of talks “should be the implementation of the UN two-state formula, which envisions the creation of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, coexisting in peace and security with Israel,” the Russian president said. “We need to concern ourselves with resolving this issue through peaceful means. In the current situation there is no alternative,” he emphasized.
Reiterating his earlier-stated position on the crisis being the result of the Washington’s failed regional policy, Putin pointed out that the so-called Quartet on the Middle East, consisting of the UN, Russia, the United States and the European Union, hasn’t been activated to try to cool tensions
“Under far-fetched pretexts, the US has factually blocked this format, which was unique and, by the way, had a mandate approved by a relevant UN resolution. An attempt was made to solve a political problem, a deep-seated problem, namely the creation of an independent Palestinian state, with the help of certain economic incentives,” Putin said, referring to the Palestinian-Israeli peace plan introduced in early 2020 by the Trump administration proposing major Palestinian territorial concessions in exchange for financial handouts. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blasted the proposal at the time, saying it belongs in the “garbage can of history.”
Russia’s efforts to strike a balanced approach to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis has rung alarm bells in the US and NATO establishment and their loyal servants in the media, with Western media churning out article after article on how Moscow could “benefit” from or "take advantage" of the conflict, and trying to twist the narrative in the most convoluted way to find an alleged trace of Russian influence on the escalating violence.
The propaganda campaign stems from Putin’s decision not to join Western leaders in offering Israel Russia’s full-throated support, and to instead delve into history to point out that the ultimate “root of all problems” in the Palestinian-Israeli crisis stems from the failure of the 1947 UN-mandated creation of a Palestinian state alongside a Jewish one. The Palestinian problem “touches the heart” of all residents of the Middle East, and all Muslims in general, Putin said, adding that Russia’s stance on the conflict “is well known both to the Israeli side and to our friends in Palestine.”
As far as the escalation is concerned, the Russian president has urged, first and foremost, that civilians are left out of the fighting. “If men decide to fight amongst themselves, let them do it. But leave women and children alone,” he said, stressing that this applies to both sides.
Position Forged Over Decades
Moscow’s present posture on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, which seeks to achieve maximum balance, follows decades of positions which shifted dramatically based on geopolitical and ideological considerations, going back to the start of the crisis in the late 1940s.
As a founding member of the United Nations system which emerged after World War II, the Soviet Union eagerly supported the creation of separate Palestinian and Jewish states. The USSR became the first country in the world to recognize Israel in 1948, and went so far as to approve arms sales by Czechoslovakia, a Soviet bloc country, to Tel Aviv during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949.
Relations between the Soviet Union and Israel soon soured, however, due to the failure of the promised Palestinian state to materialize, with Tel Aviv adding insult to injury by ignoring Moscow’s proposal for UN Security Council trusteeship over the city of Jerusalem. Israeli demands requesting the USSR to allow for the immigration of Soviet Jews, plus Tel Aviv’s gradual efforts to cozy up to the West, prompted Moscow to terminate trade relations in 1949, and to sever diplomatic relations entirely in early 1953 after a terrorist attack at the Soviet diplomatic mission in Israel, which Moscow blamed on the Israeli government.
Relations were restored shortly after Joseph Stalin’s death in mid-1953, but remained tense, with Soviet support for anti-Western national liberation movements across the Middle East, including Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt – which refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist, naturally straining ties.
In June 1967, after Israel launched preemptive aerial strikes against the Egyptians and sparked a new regional war with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Algeria, Moscow again broke off relations with Tel Aviv.
From 1967 until 1985, the USSR did not maintain any contacts with Israel whatsoever, with Soviet and Israeli intelligence agencies clashing in Cold War hot spots across the globe, from Africa to Latin America, and Moscow sending billions of dollars’ worth of increasingly advanced military hardware to their Middle Eastern allies. Throughout this period, the USSR expressed its full support to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and its longtime leader, Yasser Arafat.
Ties gradually began to be restored in the mid-to-late 1980s, after Mikhail Gorbachev launched his perestroika and ‘New Political Thinking’ reforms aimed at ending the Cold War. Soviet-Israeli consular contacts were resumed in 1987, and diplomatic relations were fully restored in October 1991, months before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In the post-Soviet period, ties between Russia and Israel quickly warmed, coming to include close diplomatic, economic, cultural and even military contacts, complemented by the migration of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Russia to Israel, with a visa-free travel regime agreed in 2008. Politically, despite Israel’s alliance with the US, Moscow found ways to find common ground with Tel Aviv, focusing heavily on cooperation in counterterrorism (but without agreeing to formally categorize certain enemies of Israel, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as “terrorist groups”).
Throughout the post-Soviet period, Russia also continued to support Palestine in its quest for statehood, joining 137 other UN members recognizing Palestine as a de jure sovereign state, and Russian officials, including President Putin, meeting regularly with representatives of the PLO, Hamas, and the Palestinian National Authority. During every successive bout of violence, in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, and 2020, Russia called for a speedy halt in fighting. In 2012, Moscow voted in favor of the General Assembly resolution which granted Palestine non-member observer status in the UN.
The escalation of the Ukrainian crisis into a full-blown NATO proxy war against Russia in 2022 heightened bilateral tensions with Israel somewhat, with Tel Aviv’s limited support for Kiev, combined with a diplomatic flap over comments made by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, straining ties with Moscow. However, even during the crisis, behind-the-scenes talks continued, with now former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett revealing this past February that he offered his services as an indirect mediator, and that Russia and Ukraine were apparently on the brink of a settlement before the US and its allies swooped in to kill the talks.
So Who Does Russia Support?
The answer to question posed in the headline to this piece, i.e. who does Russia support, is: both sides. Moscow wants to see a peaceful resolution to the crisis in which both sides’ interests are satisfied. Russia’s decades-long push to try to strike a balance in relations with Israel and Palestine (whose statehood Russia actually recognizes, unlike the US, for example) and its broader effort to establish warm ties with other key actors, such as Israel’s sworn enemy Iran, makes Moscow a potentially ideal and natural mediator. Whether Israelis and the Palestinians agree to such mediation is a decision they and their regional and international allies and partners will have to make.
Residents are seen evacuating Gaza City following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza strip, on Oct 13. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and beyond on Friday in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas assaults.
Jewish communities in France and elsewhere were also holding rallies in solidarity with Israel after the cross-border Hamas assault from Gaza.
The attack on Oct 7 was the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country's 75-year history.
France and Germany banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Several Western countries said they had stepped up security at synagogues and Jewish schools fearing that protests could lead to acts of violence.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged Palestinians to rise up in protest against Israel's bombardment of the blockaded coastal enclave.
The militant group also called on Palestinians to march on Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem and confront Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.
The compound in East Jerusalem's walled Old City is Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, and the most sacred to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
Hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, European Union and other governments.
Last weekend's assault by the group on Israeli communities killed at least 1,300 people.
Israel has since been hammering densely populated Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire and some 1,800 Palestinians have been killed.
A ground invasion of the besieged enclave appears to be imminent.
There has been strong support and sympathy for Israel from Western governments and many citizens over the Hamas attacks.
But the Israeli response has also prompted anger, particularly in the Arab and Muslim world.
Pain on both sides
In Baghdad on Friday, tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in central Tahrir Square, waving Palestinian flags and burning the Israeli flag while chanting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans.
"We are ready to join the fight and rid the Palestinians of the Israeli atrocities," said Mr Muntadhar Kareem, 25, a teacher.
He was dressed in a white shroud, like most of the protesters, to symbolise their readiness to fight to the death.
Iraqis carry Palestinian and Iraqi flags during a demonstration at Tahrir square in solidarity with the Palestinian people, in central Baghdad, Iraq, on Oct 13. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
State-organised rallies were held across Iran - whose government is Hamas's main backer and one of Israel's principal foes - in support of the militant group and against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, state TV reported.
"Death to Israel. Death to Zionism!" demonstrators shouted, many carrying Palestinian flags and those of the powerful Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem spoke at a rally where hundreds of people had gathered in solidarity with Palestinians.
He said the party was "fully ready" to contribute to the fighting.
The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border in the past week.
Other rallies were organised in Palestinian camps as well as Lebanese cities where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
In Indonesia, Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the suspected mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, joined dozens of people in a march against Israel in the Javanese city of Solo.
"We cannot be weak in facing Israel," he said in a speech to protesters waving Palestinian flags.
In the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, activists protested against Israel's actions after Friday prayers at the main mosque.
Members of Japan's Muslim community demonstrated near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo, holding signs and chanting "Israel, terrorist" and "Free Palestine".
In Sri Lanka, protesters held up signs saying, "Palestine you will never walk alone".
Protesters also took to the streets in India's Kashmir region, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt.
Pro-Palestinian rallies were planned in several European cities for later on Friday.
Pro-Israel rallies
On the other side of the conflict, Jewish people were also due to hold rallies in support of Israel in European cities.
In Warsaw, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, was scheduled to lead a multi-confessional prayer for peace. Members of France's Jewish community were to gather at the largest synagogue in Paris for the Sabbath on Friday afternoon.
In Paris on Thursday night, French police had fired teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinians, while President Emmanuel Macron urged people to refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict to France.
His government had earlier banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were likely to lead to public disorder.
In the US, law enforcement agencies have taken measures to safeguard Jewish and Muslim communities ahead of pro-Palestinian protests.
In the Netherlands, Jewish schools were closed on Friday for safety reasons, while in London two Jewish schools also shut due to security concerns.
Britain has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks since the war erupted, the Jewish charity Community Security Trust said.
In Berlin, home to one of the largest Palestinian diasporas outside the Middle East, police refused to authorise a pro-Palestinian demonstration, while security measures for Jewish institutions such as synagogues were stepped up.
Some other German states imposed a blanket ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
In Portugal, security agencies said they were reinforcing protection around Jewish sites after the fence of the synagogue in Porto was vandalised with graffiti saying "Free Palestine" and "End Israel Apartheid".
'Thousands rally in London in solidarity with Palestinians
Attendees, who gathered near BBC News' headquarters through the morning, began a march through the British capital ahead of an afternoon rally near parliament and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Downing Street office and residence.
Some displayed Palestinian flags and placards -- bearing slogans including "freedom for Palestine", "end the massacre" and "sanctions for Israel" -- as they made their way towards the end-point for a series of planned speeches.
"I think all just people around the world, not just in Britain, must stand up and call for this madness (to end)," Ismail Patel, chairman of the Friends of Al-Aqsa campaign, told AFP at the demonstration
"Otherwise, in the next few days, (we) might see a catastrophe unfolding."
The rally comes as Israel intensifies its war to destroy Hamas' capability, relentlessly pounding the Gaza Strip and deploying tens of thousands of soldiers nearby ahead of an expected ground offensive in the enclave.
That follows last Saturday's attack by Hamas, which saw hundreds of its fighters cross the Israeli border to take hostages and kill more than 1,000 civilians on the streets, in their homes or at a rave party.
Ahead of the London protest, the city's Metropolitan Police Service said it would deploy more than 1,000 officers, as the events thousands of miles away reverberate in Britain and elsewhere.
'Message'
Police and the government have noted a spike in UK anti-Semitic crime and incidents since the Hamas assault, while officers in Sussex, southeast England, arrested a 22-year-old woman Friday suspected of having made a speech backing Hamas.
A banned terrorist organisation in Britain, its members -- or those found guilty of inviting support for it -- can be jailed for up to 14 years under UK law.
The Met said this week that general expressions of support for Palestinians, including flying the Palestinian flag, were not criminal offences but reiterated that supporting Hamas is a crime.
Ferouza Namaz, 34, a student from Uzbekistan, joined the London protest, arguing that civilians in Gaza are "absolutely innocent".
"Just being Palestinian does not give the rights to kill them. These appalling atrocities have been taking place for so many years," he added.
Israel insists it does not deliberately target civilians in the Gaza Strip or other Palestinian territories.
But Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Britain, told AFP its response to Hamas's attack was "dehumanising Palestinians" and unfairly blaming civilians for terrorism.
He attended the rally to send "a message of solidarity to the Palestinian people, and particularly today to the Palestinian people in Gaza, who are under bombardment, who are under siege with the cutting off of all food".
Jamal noted that those present were also conveying a message to UK political leaders, who he accused of "giving permission for Israel to commit acts of war crime".
