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Thursday, 30 November 2023

UN chief urges world not to look away and ignore ‘epic humanitarian catastrophe’ in Gaza

Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, and the Israel-Hamas war at the United Nations headquarters on November 29, 2023 in New York City. The council sits on the sixth and final day of a truce between Hamas and Israel. (AFP)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that a “far greater” number of children have been killed by Israel in Gaza in a matter of weeks during the current conflict than the total number of children killed “during any year, by any party to a conflict since I became secretary-general.”

The people of Gaza are in the midst of “an epic humanitarian catastrophe before the eyes of the world. We must not look away,” he added.

As he welcomed the ongoing, last-minute negotiations taking place in an attempt to extend the truce in the war, Guterres once again stressed the need for “a true humanitarian ceasefire.”

Speaking during a meeting of the Security Council, he said it is imperative that the people of the region are given “a horizon of hope” in the form of efforts to move in a “determined and irreversible” way toward a two-state solution.

“Failure will condemn Palestinians, Israelis, the region and the world to a never-ending cycle of death and destruction,” he added.

The high-level Security Council meeting, which took place on the annual UN-organized International Day for Solidarity with the Palestinian People, was chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi. China holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member council this month.

“We should work toward a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire with the greatest urgency and as the utmost priority,” Wang said.

“What happened between Palestine and Israel over the decades shows, time and again, that resorting to military means is definitely not a way out.”

He added that China hopes the pause in military operations over the past few days will not prove simply to be a brief hiatus before a new round of violence, warning that “resumed fighting would only, most likely, turn into a calamity that devours the whole region.”

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, lamented the lack of any international mechanism for ensuring accountability for actions during the war, and the Security Council’s inability to take any steps to prevent Israeli violations of the rules of war and international law.

He told council members that the Nov. 11 summit in Riyadh adopted a resolution that reflected the will of Arab and Islamic peoples to “stem the bloodshed, deliver assistance, put an end to violations, overcome this unjustified suffering in Palestine, and stand with the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate demands to take back their occupied territory and establish an independent state.”

Prince Faisal called for the ongoing implementation of Security Council Resolution 2712 and for efforts to build on it to achieve “a comprehensive and immediate ceasefire.” The resolution, adopted by the council on Nov. 15, calls “for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip … to enable … full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access.”

Israel’s representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, accused the foreign ministers “of some Arab countries” of coming to New York to support a “terror organization that aims to annihilate Israel.”

He equated calls for a ceasefire with support for Hamas and its “continued reign of terror” in Gaza. “Don’t you see the contradiction here?” Erdan asked council members. “Calling for both a ceasefire and peace is a paradox.” He added that “more food, water and medical supplies will not bring us closer to a solution.”

Prince Faisal asked the council: “What will help us reach a solution, according to Israel? More bloodshed? More death?”

Urging Israel to heed Arab calls for peace, he added: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia presented an Arab peace plan in 1982. We also had the Arab Peace Initiative in Beirut in 2002. And the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) recognized the State of Israel in 1993.

“Where is the Israeli peace plan? Where is the Israeli recognition of the State of Palestine? We are peace-loving nations and peace has always been our strategic choice, but we also want it to be the choice of Israel as well.”

Prince Faisal said the time has come for the world to recognize an independent Palestinian state, and called for Palestine to be granted full membership of the UN. Currently it has observer state status.

He also called for an international peace conference to take place, under the auspices of the UN, with the aim of developing and implementing a two-state solution.

He told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York: “The danger is that if … this truce expires we will return to the killing at the scale that we have seen, which is unbearable. So we are here to make a clear statement that a truce is not enough. What is needed is a ceasefire.”

The prince added that a glimmer of hope can be found in the fact that public opinion worldwide is beginning to shift as people become increasingly aware of “the unfolding catastrophe” in Gaza, and that violence is not the answer.

Asked whether Arab nations should help ease the current pressure on Palestinians and their suffering by taking them in as refugees, he said they “do not want to leave their land. We won’t encourage them or force them to leave their land and we are not going to work with anyone who has that agenda.

“The Palestinians have a right to their land, and they have a right to live in safety and security and dignity on their land, and that is what we will push for and work toward.”

Riyad Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister, told the Security Council that anyone who is still not sure about whether they oppose the war in Gaza or the need for it to end should “check their humanity.”

The current truce must become “a permanent ceasefire,” he said, because “the massacres cannot be allowed to resume.”

He added: “Our people are faced with an existential threat. Make no mistake about it. With all the talk about the destruction of Israel, it is Palestine that is facing a plan to destroy it, implemented in broad daylight.”

The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said her country has urged Israel “to take every possible measure to prevent civilian casualties as it exercises its right to safeguard its people from acts of terror.” The use of civilians as human shields by Hamas “does not lessen Israel’s responsibility,” she added.

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Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Finland’s unfounded troop amassment at border with Russia may cause tension, warns Kremlin

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
©Artyom Geodakyan/TASS Host Photo Agency

Finland’s activity to strengthen its border with Russia is unfounded as Moscow poses no threat to its neighbor, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Such activity, on the contrary, creates a threat to Russia and may lead to tension, the Russian presidential spokesman warned.

"There is no conflict as such. No one and nothing threatens Finland and in this case this is certainly an absolutely excessive measure of ensuring border security because there is no threat there and in reality there is no tension," the Kremlin press secretary told reporters, commenting on Finland’s activity to bolster its border protection with the help of Poland.

"This is an absolutely unprovoked and unfounded concentration of armed units at the border with Russia," Peskov stressed.

As the Russian presidential spokesman pointed out, "tension may emerge precisely in the course of amassing additional units at the border." "The Finns should be well aware that for us this will pose a threat of boosting the amassment of military units at our borders," the Kremlin spokesman explained.

"This is how we see it," Peskov said.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier on Wednesday that Russia received a note from Finland on November 29 on its decision to shut down the last operational border checkpoint from November 30. Meanwhile, some media outlets reported that Poland planned to send troops to Finland to help protect its border.

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Watch Russian Sniper Hunt Down & Eliminate Ukrainian Militant

Russian servicemen have consistently showcased their tactical superiority in the ever-changing landscape of modern warfare since the start of the special military operation.

A skilled Russian volunteer sniper spent four days lying in wait, while being strategically positioned, and ultimately triumphed over the enemy with a single well-placed shot. The exceptional accuracy and dedication demonstrated by the Russian sniper's mission was astoundingly captured on video.

For four days, the sniper patiently waited for the Ukrainian Armed Forces fighter to show his head from behind the branches. It took the Russian fighter literally a few seconds to catch the target and unleash the kill shot. According to him, this particular spot was the sole vantage point from which the enemy could conduct reconnaissance and adjust their artillery fire.

Snipers are highly skilled and disciplined soldiers who wait patiently for the right opportunity to engage their targets. They typically operate in a concealed position, often for extended periods of time, in order to remain undetected and gather intelligence on enemy movements. Snipers use a variety of tactics to locate and track their targets, including reconnaissance, surveillance, and observation.

Watch Russian Frigate Firing Kalibr Missiles at Ukrainian Military Infrastructure

The Kalibr is a family of long-range, sea-skimming high-precision cruise missiles developed by Russia. The missile is capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads and can be launched from various platforms, including submarines, surface ships, and aircraft.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of a Black Sea Fleet frigate firing Kalibr cruise missiles at Ukrainian military infrastructure.

"Operating in the waters of the Black Sea, the crew of the frigate of the Black Sea Fleet was given the task of hitting the enemy's military infrastructure facilities in the shortest possible time with Kalibr cruise missiles. A salvo of four cruise missiles was successfully launched against the Ukrainian forces' military targets. The designated targets were hit," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Elon Musk has declined Hamas' invitation to witness 'massacre and destruction' by Israel in the Gaza Strip

Hamas has invited Elon Musk to witness in person the scope of the violence and devastation heaped upon the Gaza Strip by Israel.

The invitation from senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan came on Tuesday. The previous day, the tech billionaire, who owns social media platform X, had visited a kibbutz targeted by Hamas gunmen during the October 7 attack and declared his commitment to do whatever was necessary to stop the spread of hatred.

Hamdan called on Musk, who recently met Israel’s prime minister and president, to also visit Palestine and acquire a more rounded perspective. “We invite him to visit Gaza to see the extent of the massacres and destruction committed against the people of Gaza, in compliance with the standards of objectivity and credibility,” Hamdan said in a press conference in Beirut.

“Within 50 days, Israel dropped more than 40,000 tonnes of explosives on the homes of defenceless Gazans,” the official added.

Musk has recently faced criticism that his social media platform is rife with anti-Semitism and white nationalist rhetoric promoting violence and hatred

During his visit to Israel, the social media and technology mogul expressed shock upon seeing the decimated kibbutz of Kfar Aza, saying that Israel had “no choice” but to eliminate Hamas.

Musk also struck an agreement under which “Starlink satellite units [would] only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip,” a sharp turn from his previous musing that he could provide Starlink to enhance communications in Gaza amid numerous telecommunications blackouts.

The Hamas official also called upon the US “to review [its] relationship with Israel and to stop supplying them with weapons,” and for the international community to quickly send specialised civil defence teams to help retrieve thousands of bodies from beneath the rubble.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has declined an invitation by a senior Hamas official to tour Gaza to see the fallout of the relentless Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave. The US billionaire recently paid a visit to Israel during which he agreed that the country had no other choice but to destroy Hamas.

The US tycoon’s remarks came after Musk traveled to Israel on Monday, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, and walked through a kibbutz destroyed by Hamas.

Polisi segera panggil Firli Bahuri sebagai tersangka

Kabid Humas Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Pol Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko saat diwawancarai di Polda Metro Jaya, Rabu (22/11/2023). ANTARA/Ilham Kausar/pri.

Kepolisian segera memanggil Ketua KPK non aktif Firli Bahuri dalam kapasitas sebagai tersangka terkait kasus pemerasan terhadap mantan Menteri Pertanian Syahrul Yasin Limpo pada hari Jumat, 01/12/2023.

"Permintaan keterangan terhadap FB sebagai tersangka dalam penanganan perkara a quo pada hari Jumat, 1 Desember 2023," kata Kabid Humas Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Polisi Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko saat dikonfirmasi di Jakarta, Selasa.

Pihaknya telah melayangkan panggilan kepada Firli Bahuri. "Pagi ini hari Selasa, tanggal 28 November 2023 telah dilayangkan surat panggilan kepada FB dalam kapasitas sebagai tersangka untuk dilakukan pemeriksaan," katanya.

Trunoyudo menambahkan, pemeriksaan tersebut akan dilakukan pada pukul 09.00 WIB di Ruang Riksa Direktorat Tindak Pidana Korupsi (Dittipidkor) Bareskrim Polri.

"Pemeriksaan tersebut akan dilakukan oleh penyidik gabungan Subdit Tipidkor Ditreskrimsus Polda Metro Jaya dan Dittipidkor Bareskrim Polri," katanya.

Polda Metro Jaya telah menetapkan Firli Bahuri (FB) sebagai tersangka dalam kasus dugaan pemerasan oleh pimpinan KPK terhadap mantan Menteri Pertanian Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) pada Rabu (22/11).

Direktur Reserse Kriminal Khusus (Direskrimsus) Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Pol Ade Safri Simanjuntak menyebutkan bahwa penetapan tersangka tersebut setelah dilakukan gelar perkara pada hari yang sama.

Penetapan Firli Bahuri sebagai tersangka sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 12 e atau Pasal 12 B atau pasal 11 Undang-Undang Nomor 31 Tahun 1999 tentang Pemberantasan Tindak Pidana Korupsi sebagaimana diubah dan ditambah dengan Undang-Undang Nomor 20 Tahun 2001 tentang Perubahan Undang-Undang Nomor 31 Tahun 1999 tentang Pemberantasan Tindak Pidana Korupsi sebagaimana yang diubah dan ditambah dengan UU Nomor 20 Tahun 2001 tentang Perubahan UU Nomor 31 Tahun 1999 tentang Pemberantasan Tindak Pidana Korupsi juncto pasal 65 KUHP yang terjadi di wilayah hukum Polda Metro Jaya pada sekira tahun 2020 sampai 2023

Firli ajukan praperadilan, ini sikap Kapolri dan Ketua KPK Sementara

Mantan Ketua Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK) Firli Bahuri telah mengajukan permohonan praperadilan ke Pengadilan Negeri Jakarta Selatan terkait kasus dugaan pemerasan yang menyeretnya menjadi tersangka. Hal itu mendapat tanggapan dari Kapolri Jenderal Pol Listyo Sigit Prabowo dan Ketua KPK Sementara Nawawi Pomolango saat ditemui di Istana Negara

Drones show how Israeli bombs turned Gaza into moonscape

Drone footage shot by Reuters over Gaza before and after the start of Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave show a busy urban area, with children playing and people going about their chores - then an eerie moonscape of crumpled buildings and mounds of rubble stretching for block after block.

The pictures filmed before Oct. 7 show schools, mosques and churches, and the 14th century Barquq Islamic fortress.

People are walking in the streets or driving along a tree-lined boulevard. One scene shows children going to school on a donkey cart. Another shows people having fun at a water park.

Gaza, which lies along the Mediterranean coast, has long been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade that has restricted Palestinians' movement.

Ruled by the Hamas Islamist movement, it is one of the most densely populated places on earth and has suffered years of economic deprivation. Yet life went on.

Palestinians walk at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip November, 21, 2023. REUTERS/Abed Sabah/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Some of the footage showed the Beach refugee camp, an area of squat, tightly packed cinder block houses, with washing hanging outside. It is home to the families and descendants of refugees from the 1948 war around the creation of the state of Israel.

In another refugee camp, Nusseirat, children enjoy break-dancing in the street.

Drone footage of Nusseirat filmed after the start of the Israeli bombardments shows widespread destruction, with smoking craters and flattened buildings.

Israel attacked Gaza in retaliation for a raid by Hamas militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including children. About 240 people were taken back to Gaza as hostages.

Weeks of Israeli bombing from land, sea and air and a ground invasion in north Gaza have killed nearly 15,000 people in the enclave and created a humanitarian crisis as people fled their homes to find shelter elsewhere in the crammed enclave.

Hospitals struggle to cope with the dead and wounded, and supplies of food, water and fuel are running out.

Palestinians walk among the rubble, as they inspect houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the conflict, amid the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, at Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip November 27, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

The drone footage filmed after Oct. 7 shows street after street of destroyed buildings. Smoke rises from piles of rubble. Large residential apartment blocks tilt precariously to one side or have just folded in on themselves.

People can be seen wandering among the ruins or picking through rubble but there appears to be very little normal activity. Few cars are on the street.

Several shots showed people filing past wrecked buildings, apparently evacuating their home areas to find refuge elsewhere.

Footage shot after a brief truce started last Friday shows more people venturing out onto the streets. But from Khan Younis in the south to central Zahra City and Gaza City in the north, there are just piles of debris, bricks and concrete dust where homes used to be.

Writing by Angus MacSwan; Editing by Lisa Shumaker

Russia knows about Finland’s agreements on deployment of NATO forces

The Russian side knows that Finland has already agreed to allow NATO forces to be deployed on its territory, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.

"Evidently, the entire [North-Atlantic] alliance has increased the zone of contact with its main enemy, as Russia is viewed by the alliance, by 1,300 kilometers. And they will demand that Finland do what other allies are doing, i.e. take all necessary measures and deploy foreign forces on its territory. We know that Finland has signed relevant bilateral agreements," he said at the Primakov Readings forum.

In this context, he stressed that Russia will be taking all possible precautions in response to NATO’s activity near its borders. "We will do this, as the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] said, based on real changes in the military situation. I mean the military forces that can be deployed or appear along our borders," he said, adding that NATO’s military activity near the Russian border "creates a military-political reality, which is heavily charged with destabilization."

The 9th Primakov Readings international forum is being held in Moscow from November 27 to 28. TASS is the general information partner of the Primakov Readings international forum and conference.

NATO foreign ministers recognize failure of Ukraine's counteroffensive — Hungarian MFA

NATO foreign ministers have acknowledged that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counteroffensive against Russian troops has failed, falling far short of their expectations, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, participating in the two-day meeting that opened in Brussels, said.

"The goals and hopes of the Ukrainian counteroffensive have been dashed because there has been no major change on the battlefield and no breakthrough since its beginning. This has been recognized by many people here. Quietly, cautiously, but still recognized," Szijjarto told Hungarian journalists after the first day of the NATO ministerial meeting.

"Regarding the course of the counteroffensive in Ukraine, they mostly said that it brought lower-than-expected results," the foreign minister, whose speech was broadcast by the M1 TV channel, said. He specified that almost no one "considered the counteroffensive a success," save for a lone holdout. "But this was an isolated attempt that no one joined," Sijjarto said. He added that the main idea was that "everything that is happening is not living up to expectations."

Scholz urges support for Ukraine despite budget crisis

Germany’s economy needs to be modernized in order to be prepared for unexpected crises in the future, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in his address to parliament on Tuesday. A recent Constitutional Court ruling blocked the government’s plans to divert unused pandemic funds into its Climate and Transformation Fund intended for that purpose.

In his speech, Scholz recalled that the country had faced challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict, and rising energy prices.

According to Reuters, Scholz said that “it would be a grave and unforgivable mistake to neglect the modernization of our country in the face of all these acute challenges.”

While Scholz called for the “transformation” of the German economy, he said that the country would continue to provide assistance to Ukraine “as long as it is necessary.” As quoted by the Guardian, he said this support had “existential importance” not only for Germany but for all of Europe, with the chancellor adding that “if Putin won” there would be “even more serious consequences.”

Earlier this month, the German government reportedly agreed to double military aid to Ukraine next year to a total of €8 billion ($8.79 billion).

During his address, Scholz also said that “it is also clear that we must not let up in our support for Ukraine and in overcoming the energy crisis,” according to Reuters.

While Scholz claimed that his government would deal with the budget crisis, the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), whose legal action sparked the Constitutional Court ruling, greeted his words with laughter.

According to Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, the legal decision could have “massive implications” for the country’s transformation into a cleaner and more technologically advanced economy, Bloomberg reported last week.

A few days ago, Bavarian premier Markus Soeder, who also leads the state’s largest party and CDU ally, the Christian Social Union (CSU), said Scholz’s government had “gone bankrupt” and criticized its strategy of lifting energy price controls by the end of the year. The controls were designed to protect households and businesses from soaring gas and electricity costs caused by dwindling energy imports from Russia amid EU sanctions.

Ukrainian Shell Hits Residential Building in Donetsk

Ukrainian forces shelled the Kuibyshevsky district in Donetsk using Grad multiple rocket launcher systems (MLRS), leaving five civilians wounded.

According to Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) representatives in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, the Ukrainian military shelled the DPR 15 times in the past 24 hours. Reports say that four residential buildings and two other infrastructure facilities sustained damage.

The Ukrainian military routinely shells multiple districts in the city. The attacks result in killed and injured civilians, as well as damaged infrastructure.

Ukraine Loses Up to 135 Soldiers in Donetsk Direction in Past Day - MoD

Ukraine has lost up to 135 soldiers in the Donetsk direction in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

During the given period, the Russian armed forces have repulsed three attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk direction and another one in the Zaporozhye direction.

"In total, the enemy lost up to 135 military personnel in this [Donetsk] direction, as well as three pickup trucks," the ministry said in a statement, adding that Kiev has also lost up to 65 soldiers in the Zaporozhye direction.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive began on June 4. Kiev has thrown into battle brigades trained by NATO instructors and armed with Western equipment, including Leopard and Challenger tanks. Three months later, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Kiev's push had failed, with Ukraine suffering severe casualties. Several Western officials also admitted that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had not been successful so far. On November 1, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in an interview with the Economist that Kiev's counteroffensive had reached a "stalemate."

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