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Category: GLOBAL

  • Tebusan Israel dibebaskan selepas 491 hari bertanya: Di manakah PBB, Palang Merah, dunia?

    Eli Sharabi, bekas tebusan Israel yang dibebaskan oleh Hamas di Gaza bulan lalu, memegang gambar isteri dan dua anak perempuannya yang dibunuh oleh Hamas, ketika dia berucap pada mesyuarat Majlis Keselamatan PBB di ibu pejabat PBB di New York, 20 Mac 2025. (Reuters)

    PBB – Tebusan Israel yang dibebaskan, Eli Sharabi, yang dipukul, dirantai dan kebuluran semasa ditahan selama 491 hari oleh Hamas, meluahkan kemarahannya semasa penampilan di Majlis Keselamatan PBB pada Khamis kerana terpaksa menderita sekian lama dan bimbang setiap hari akan dibunuh.

    “Di mana PBB? Di mana Palang Merah? Di mana dunia?” tanya Sharabi.

    Dia mencabar badan PBB yang paling berkuasa: “Jika anda berpegang teguh kepada kemanusiaan buktikan” dengan membawa pulang 59 tebusan yang masih berada di Gaza, yang kebanyakannya dipercayai sudah mati.

    Nasib tebusan yang tinggal semakin tidak menentu selepas Israel pada Selasa menamatkan rehat enam minggu dalam pertempuran yang membolehkan beberapa tebusan pulang sebagai pertukaran untuk tahanan Palestin.

    Sharabi berkata majlis itu bercakap tentang keperluan untuk mendapatkan bantuan kemanusiaan kepada rakyat Palestin di Gaza, tetapi dia melihat militan Hamas memakan makanan curi dari berpuluh-puluh kotak yang ditandakan dengan lambang PBB manakala tebusan kelaparan. Mereka diberi mungkin sekeping pita dan seteguk teh sehari, dan sekali sekala kurma kering, katanya.

    Apabila dia dibebaskan pada 8 Februari, Sharabi berkata dia mempunyai berat 44 kilogram (kira-kira 97 paun) — kurang daripada berat anak perempuan bongsunya, yang terbunuh bersama isteri dan anak perempuannya yang lebih tua dalam serangan mengejut Hamas di selatan Israel pada 7 Okt. 2023, bersama kira-kira 1,200 yang lain. Dia adalah antara 251 orang yang dijadikan tebusan.

    Amerika Syarikat pada November memveto resolusi Majlis Keselamatan PBB yang menuntut gencatan senjata segera di Gaza kerana ia tidak dikaitkan dengan pembebasan segera tebusan.

    Rakyat Palestin dan penyokong mereka kemudian pergi ke Perhimpunan Agung 193 anggota, yang menerima pakai resolusi pada Disember menuntut gencatan senjata dan mengulangi tuntutannya untuk membebaskan tebusan. Tidak seperti resolusi Majlis Keselamatan, resolusi yang diluluskan oleh Perhimpunan Agung adalah tidak mengikat.

    Gencatan senjata yang berkuat kuasa pada Januari telah hancur pada Selasa dengan serangan udara mengejut ke atas Gaza yang mengorbankan lebih 400 rakyat Palestin, salah satu angka kematian tertinggi dalam perang hampir 18 bulan. Kementerian Kesihatan Gaza berkata kebanyakan mangsa adalah wanita dan kanak-kanak.

    Kehadiran Sharabi di hadapan majlis, yang kedua oleh tebusan yang dibebaskan, menyusuli permintaan Israel minggu lalu untuk mengadakan pertemuan mengenai nasib tebusan.

    Timbalan Duta Besar Britain James Kariuki menyifatkan penderitaan Sharabi “di luar jangkaan” dan berkata “Hamas mesti bertanggungjawab atas tindakan keji mereka”.

    Tetapi Kariuki juga berkata UK mengecam “amaran Menteri Pertahanan Israel Israel Katz tentang kemusnahan total Gaza.” Britain menggesa kebangkitan pantas bantuan ke Gaza, siasatan terhadap dakwaan keganasan seksual dan berasaskan jantina terhadap tahanan Palestin oleh tentera Israel, dan pengembalian segera kepada perjanjian gencatan senjata, katanya.

    Duta baharu Perancis untuk PBB, Jérôme Bonnafont, menyatakan ucapan takziah terdalam negaranya kepada Sharabi tetapi turut mengutuk pengeboman Israel disambung semula, berkata ia tidak akan memastikan pembebasan tebusan, dan menuntut penamatan sekatan kemanusiaan Israel di Gaza.

    Timbalan Duta Besar Rusia untuk PBB Dmitry Polyansky memberitahu majlis itu, “Hati kami dipenuhi dengan kesedihan ketika kami mendengar kisah tragis Encik Eli Sharabi,” sambil menambah “kekejaman seperti itu tidak mempunyai justifikasi”.

    Polyansky mengkritik pemimpin Israel kerana tidak bergerak ke fasa 2 perjanjian gencatan senjata, yang menyeru pembebasan semua tebusan dan menamatkan pertempuran secara kekal. Beliau berkata sukar untuk membincangkan masa depan apabila pemimpin tentera dan politik Israel nampaknya telah membuat pilihan yang memihak kepada peperangan.

    Duta Besar PBB Algeria Amar Bendjama, mewakili dunia Arab dalam majlis itu, menggelar Sharabi sebagai “wakil masyarakat sivil,” dan berkata “tiada orang awam, tanpa mengira latar belakang mereka, harus menanggung penderitaan.”

    Dia kemudian menuduh Israel “memilih-milih” undang-undang antarabangsa. Dia merujuk kepada larangan Israel terhadap bantuan kemanusiaan, bahan api dan elektrik memasuki Gaza sejak 2 Mac, pembunuhan orang awam, dan pemotongan akses Jawatankuasa Palang Merah Antarabangsa kepada lebih 9,500 rakyat Palestin yang ditahan di penjara Israel sejak 7 Okt.

    Selepas semua ahli majlis bercakap, Riyad Mansour, duta Palestin PBB, menghantar “takziah kami” kepada Sharabi atas pembunuhan orang tersayangnya dan penahanannya yang berpanjangan. Dia berkata rakyat Palestin “memahami kesakitan ini kerana kita menjalaninya”.

    Sharabi tidak menyebut tindakan Israel, kecuali untuk mengatakan bahawa pada pagi 7 Oktober, apabila dia mendengar bahawa militan berada di dalam Kibbutz Be’eri tempat dia tinggal, dia meyakinkan isterinya untuk tidak bimbang: “Tentera akan datang, mereka sentiasa datang.” Pagi itu, mereka tidak pernah datang.

    Dia memberitahu majlis dia datang untuk bercakap untuk Alon Ohel, 24 tahun, seorang tebusan yang dia tinggalkan di terowong, dan semua yang lain, termasuk abangnya, Yossi, yang terbunuh tetapi mayatnya kekal di Gaza.

    “Bawa mereka semua pulang. Sekarang!” Sharabi berkata.

    AN-AP, 21 Mac 2025

  • Israeli hostage freed after 491 days asks: Where was the United Nations, the Red Cross, the world?

    Eli Sharabi, a former Israeli hostage released by Hamas in Gaza last month, holds of a photograph of his wife and two daughters killed by Hamas, as he addresses a meeting of the UN Security Council at the UN headquarters in New York, Mar. 20, 2025. (Reuters)

    UNITED NATIONS – Freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi, who was beaten, chained and starved while held for 491 days by Hamas, expressed his anger during an appearance at the UN Security Council on Thursday for having to suffer for so long and worry every day about being killed.

    “Where was the United Nations? Where was the Red Cross? Where was the world?” Sharabi asked.
    He challenged the UN’s most powerful body: “If you stand for humanity prove it” by bringing home the 59 hostages still in Gaza, many of whom are believed to be dead.

    The fate of the remaining hostages became more uncertain after Israel on Tuesday ended a six-week break in the fighting that had allowed for the return of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

    Sharabi said the council talked about the need to get humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, but he saw Hamas militants eating stolen food from dozens of boxes marked with UN emblems while the hostages starved. They were given maybe a piece of pita and a sip of tea a day, and an occasional dry date, he said.

    When he was released on Feb. 8, Sharabi said he weighed 44 kilos (about 97 pounds) — less than the weight of his youngest daughter, who was killed along with his wife and older daughter in Hamas’ surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, along with about 1,200 others. He was among 251 people taken hostage.

    The United States in November vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza because it was not linked to an immediate release of the hostages.

    The Palestinians and their supporters then went to the 193-member General Assembly, which adopted a resolution in December demanding a ceasefire and reiterating its demand for the release of the hostages. Unlike Security Council resolutions, though, those passed by the General Assembly are nonbinding.

    The ceasefire that went into effect in January was shattered on Tuesday with surprise airstrikes on Gaza that killed more than 400 Palestinians, one of the highest death tolls in the nearly 18-month war. Gaza’s Health Ministry said most victims were women and children.

    Sharabi’s appearance before the council, the second by a freed hostage, followed an Israeli request last week for a meeting on the plight of the hostages.

    Britain’s deputy ambassador James Kariuki called Sharabi’s suffering “beyond the imagination” and said “Hamas must be held accountable for their despicable actions.”

    But Kariuki also said the UK condemns Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s “warning of the total destruction of Gaza.” Britain calls for the rapid resurgence of aid to Gaza, an investigation into allegations of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces, and an urgent return to the ceasefire deal, he said.

    France’s new UN ambassador, Jérôme Bonnafont, expressed his country’s deepest condolences to Sharabi but also condemned the resumption of Israel’s bombing, saying it will not ensure the release of hostages, and demanded an end to Israel’s humanitarian blockade of Gaza.

    Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told the council, “Our hearts were filled with sorrow as we listened to the tragic story of Mr. Eli Sharabi,” adding “such brutality can have no justification.”

    Polyansky criticized Israel’s leaders for not moving to phase 2 of the ceasefire deal, which calls for the release of all hostages and a permanent end to the fighting. He said it’s difficult to discuss the future when Israel’s military and political leaders appear to have made the choice in favor of war.

    Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama, representing the Arab world on the council, called Sharabi a “representative of civil society,” and said “no civilian, irrespective of their background, should endure suffering.”

    He then accused Israel of “cherry-picking” international law. He pointed to Israel’s ban on humanitarian aid, fuel and electricity entering Gaza since March 2, its killing of civilians, and the cutoff of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ access to over 9,500 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons since Oct. 7.

    After all council members spoke, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, sent “our condolences” to Sharabi over the killing of his loved ones and his prolonged captivity. He said Palestinians “understand this pain because we live it.”

    Sharabi made no mention of Israeli actions, except to say that on the morning of Oct. 7, when he heard that militants were inside Kibbutz Be’eri where he lived, he reassured his wife not to worry: “The army will come, they always come.” That morning, they never came.

    He told the council he came to speak for 24-year-old Alon Ohel, a fellow hostage whom he left behind in the tunnel, and all others, including his older brother, Yossi, who was killed but whose body remains in Gaza.

    “Bring them all home. Now!” Sharabi said.

    AN-AP, 21 March 2025

  • Selepas protes, Erdogan berkata Turkiye ‘tidak akan menyerah kepada keganasan jalanan’

    Orang ramai menyalakan suar di Istanbul, Turkiye, Khamis, 20 Mac 2025, ketika mereka membantah penahanan Datuk Bandar Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu. (AP)

    ISTANBUL – Presiden Recep Tayyip Erdogan pada Jumaat berkata Turkiye tidak akan gentar dengan “keganasan jalanan” selepas beberapa hari bantahan meluas berhubung penahanan datuk bandar pembangkang kuat Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu.

    “Turkiye tidak akan menyerah kepada keganasan jalanan,” kata Erdogan, ketika pembangkang utama CHP menggesa protes seluruh negara pada Jumaat.

    AN-AFP, 21 Mac 2025

  • After protests, Erdogan says Turkiye ‘won’t surrender to street terror’

    People light flares in Istanbul, Turkiye, Thursday, March 20, 2025, as they protest against the arrest of Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (AP)

    ISTANBUL – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkiye would not be cowed by “street terror” after days of widespread protests over the detention of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

    “Turkiye will not surrender to street terror,” Erdogan said, as the main opposition CHP called for nationwide protests later on Friday.

    AN-AFP, 21 March 2025

  • Enam hari tepung masih tinggal untuk diedarkan di Gaza – UNRWA

    GENEVA – Satu penyedia bantuan makanan terbesar di Gaza memberi amaran pada Jumaat bahawa ia hanya mempunyai cukup tepung untuk diagihkan untuk enam hari akan datang.

    “Kita boleh meregangkannya dengan memberi orang kurang, tetapi kita bercakap hari bukan minggu,” Sam Rose dari agensi bantuan Palestin Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu UNRWA memberitahu pemberita di Geneva, bercakap dari tengah Gaza.

    Keadaan di Gaza amat membimbangkan dengan pengurangan besar-besaran dalam pengagihan bekalan bantuan, kata UNRWA.

    “Enam daripada 25 kedai roti yang disokong oleh Program Makanan Dunia terpaksa ditutup. Terdapat lebih ramai orang di jalan-jalan di luar kedai roti,” tambah Rose.

    “Ini adalah tempoh paling lama sejak bermulanya konflik pada Oktober 2023 yang tiada apa-apa bekalan telah memasuki Gaza. Kemajuan yang kami buat sebagai sistem bantuan dalam tempoh enam minggu terakhir gencatan senjata sedang diterbalikkan,” tambah Rose.

    Israel pada awal Mac menyekat kemasukan barangan ke wilayah itu dalam kebuntuan mengenai gencatan senjata yang telah menghentikan pertempuran sejak tujuh minggu lalu.

    Langkah itu telah menyebabkan kenaikan harga makanan penting serta bahan api, memaksa ramai untuk mencatu makanan mereka.

    AN-REUTERS, 21 March 2025

  • Six days of flour left to distribute in Gaza – UNRWA

    GENEVA – One of the largest providers of food aid in Gaza warned on Friday it only has enough flour to distribute for the next six days.

    “We can stretch that by giving people less, but we are talking days not weeks,” Sam Rose from the United Nations’ Palestinian relief agency UNRWA told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Central Gaza.

    The situation in Gaza is gravely concerning with massive reductions in distribution of aid supplies, UNRWA said.

    “Six of 25 bakeries that the World Food Programme were supporting had to close down. There are larger crowds on streets outside bakeries,” Rose added.

    “This is the longest period since the start of conflict in October 2023 that no supplies whatsoever have entered Gaza. The progress we made as an aid system over the last six weeks of the ceasefire is being reversed,” Rose added.

    Israel in early March blocked the entry of goods into the territory in a standoff over a truce that has halted fighting for the past seven weeks.

    The move has led to a hike in prices of essential foods as well as of fuel, forcing many to ration their meals.

    AN-REUTERS, 21 March 2025

  • AS beritahu PBB Hamas harus dipersalahkan atas kematian sejak Israel meneruskan permusuhan di Gaza

    PBB – Amerika Syarikat (AS) memberitahu Majlis Keselamatan PBB pada Jumaat bahawa kumpulan militan Palestin Hamas dipersalahkan atas kematian di Semenanjung Gaza sejak Israel meneruskan permusuhan di sana.

    “Hamas memikul tanggungjawab penuh untuk perang yang berterusan di Gaza dan untuk menyambung semula permusuhan. Setiap kematian akan dapat dielakkan sekiranya Hamas menerima cadangan jambatan yang ditawarkan oleh Amerika Syarikat pada Rabu lalu,” kata pemangku Duta Besar AS ke PBB Dorothy Shea kepada 15 anggota majlis itu.

    Israel meninggalkan gencatan senjata selama dua bulan tiga hari lalu, dan telah meneruskan pengeboman udara dan kempen darat, dengan mengatakan ia mahu menekan militan membebaskan tebusan yang masih ada.

    Hamas berkata pada Jumaat ia sedang mengkaji cadangan AS untuk memulihkan gencatan senjata.

    Daripada lebih 250 tebusan yang asalnya dirampas dalam serangan Hamas pada Oktober 2023 ke atas Israel — yang mencetuskan perang di Gaza — 59 masih berada di kawasan itu, 24 daripadanya dianggap masih hidup.

    Duta Besar Israel Danny Danon memberitahu majlis itu bahawa, dalam beberapa hari kebelakangan ini, Israel telah “menghapuskan beberapa Hamas dan pengganas Jihad Islam Palestin”.

    Serangan udara Israel pada Selasa sahaja mengorbankan lebih 400 rakyat Palestin, dengan sedikit berhenti sejak itu.

    “Hamas mempunyai pilihan,” kata Danon.

    “Mereka boleh kembali ke meja dan berunding, atau mereka boleh menunggu dan melihat kepimpinan mereka jatuh, satu demi satu. Kami tidak akan berhenti sehingga rakyat kami pulang, semuanya.”

    Duta Besar Perancis Jerome Bonnafont menggesa Israel untuk “tanpa syarat menyambung semula bantuan kemanusiaan, menghentikan pengeboman, berpegang pada logik rundingan, walau bagaimanapun lambat, dan berhenti bertindak balas terhadap kekejaman dengan melepaskan keganasan”.

    AN-REUTERS, 21 Mac 2023

  • US tells UN Hamas is to blame for deaths since Israel resumed Gaza hostilities

    UNITED NATIONS – The United States told the UN Security Council on Friday that the Palestinian militant group Hamas was to blame for the deaths in the Gaza Strip since Israel resumed hostilities there.

    “Hamas bears full responsibility for the ongoing war in Gaza and for the resumption of hostilities. Every death would have been avoided had Hamas accepted the bridge proposal that the United States offered last Wednesday,” acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the 15-member council.

    Israel effectively abandoned a two-month-old truce three days ago, and has resumed its aerial bombardment and ground campaign, saying it wanted to press the militants to free remaining hostages.

    Hamas said on Friday it was reviewing the US proposal to restore the ceasefire.

    Of the more than 250 hostages originally seized in Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel — which triggered the war in Gaza — 59 remain in the enclave, 24 of whom are thought to be alive.

    Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon told the council that, in recent days, Israel had “eliminated several top Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists.”

    Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday alone killed more than 400 Palestinians, with scant let-up since then.
    “Hamas has a choice,” Danon said.

    “They can come back to the table and negotiate, or they can wait and watch their leadership fall, one by one. We will not stop until our people come home, all of them.”

    French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont urged Israel to “unconditionally resume humanitarian aid, to stop the bombing, to stick to the logic of negotiations, however slow they may be, and to stop responding to cruelty with the unleashing of violence.”

    AN-REUTERS, 21 March 2023

  • Penerbangan dibatalkan, ribuan dipindahkan selepas letusan gunung berapi Indonesia

    Penumpang menyemak papan maklumat menunjukkan penerbangan dibatalkan akibat letusan Gunung Lewotobi Laki-Laki di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Ngurah Rai di pulau peranginan Bali, Indonesia pada 21 Mac 2025. (AP)

    JAKARTA – Sekurang-kurangnya tujuh penerbangan antarabangsa dari pulau peranginan Bali, Indonesia dibatalkan, kata seorang pegawai lapangan terbang pada Jumaat, selepas gunung berapi di timur negara kepulauan itu meletus, menembak abu gelap lapan kilometer ke langit dan memaksa ribuan orang berpindah.

    Gunung Lewotobi Laki-Laki, gunung berapi berkembar 1,703 meter (5,587 kaki) di pulau pelancongan Flores, meletus selama 11 minit dan sembilan saat lewat Khamis, kata pihak berkuasa, meningkatkan status amaran gunung berapi itu ke tahap tertinggi.

    Setakat 9:45 pagi (0145 GMT) Jumaat, “tujuh penerbangan antarabangsa telah dibatalkan, enam daripadanya adalah penerbangan Jetstar menuju ke Australia dan satu penerbangan Air Asia ke Kuala Lumpur,” kata jurucakap Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Ngurah Rai Bali, Andadina Dyah, dalam satu kenyataan.

    Beberapa penerbangan lain – domestik dan antarabangsa, termasuk ke Thailand, Singapura dan Australia – telah ditangguhkan, katanya.

    Kerajaan tempatan telah mengisytiharkan darurat 14 hari dan menubuhkan pos arahan untuk menyelaraskan usaha tindak balas, kata jurucakap agensi bencana negara (BNPB), Abdul Muhari, dalam satu kenyataan pada Jumaat.

    Abdul menambah, lebih 4,700 penduduk telah dipindahkan setakat Jumaat dan meminta mereka yang tinggal mencari lokasi selamat.

    “Orang ramai diminta berada di lokasi selamat dan mematuhi arahan daripada kerajaan wilayah,” kata Abdul.

    Lapangan terbang tempatan di Maumere, di Flores, yang paling hampir dengan gunung berapi itu, tidak terjejas oleh abu, menurut kementerian pengangkutan.

    “Kolum abu diperhatikan kelabu hingga hitam dengan keamatan tebal,” kata agensi vulkanologi Indonesia dalam satu kenyataan mengenai letusan itu, yang bermula sekitar 11 malam pada Khamis.

    Abu gunung berapi daripada letusan menyelubungi beberapa kampung berdekatan pada Jumaat.

    Sekurang-kurangnya dua orang cedera, termasuk seorang lelaki yang bumbung runtuh di bawah serpihan gunung berapi, kata seorang pegawai tempatan.

    Agensi itu memberi amaran kepada penduduk tentang risiko aliran lumpur gunung berapi akibat hujan lebat.

    Letusan panjang itu mendorong agensi geologi negara itu untuk meningkatkan tahap amaran gunung berapi itu ke tahap tertinggi dalam sistem empat peringkat.

    Pihak berkuasa mengenakan zon pengecualian antara tujuh dan lapan kilometer (empat hingga lima batu) di sekitar gunung berapi itu, tambah agensi itu.

    Pada November, Gunung Lewotobi Laki-Laki meletus beberapa kali, membunuh sembilan orang, membatalkan banyak penerbangan antarabangsa ke pulau pelancongan Bali dan memaksa ribuan orang berpindah.

    Laki-Laki, yang bermaksud “lelaki” dalam bahasa Indonesia, berkembar dengan gunung berapi yang lebih tenang yang dinamakan sempena perkataan Indonesia untuk “wanita”.

    Indonesia, sebuah negara kepulauan yang luas, mengalami aktiviti seismik dan gunung berapi yang kerap disebabkan kedudukannya di “Lingkaran Api” Pasifik.

    AN-AFP

  • Flights canceled, thousands evacuated after Indonesia volcano eruption

    Passengers check an information board showing flights canceled due to the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki at Ngurah Rai International Airport on the resort island of Bali, Indonesia on March 21, 2025. (AP)

    JAKARTA – At least seven international flights from Indonesia’s resort island Bali have been canceled, an airport official said Friday, after a volcano in the archipelago nation’s east erupted, shooting dark ash eight kilometers into the sky and forcing thousands to evacuate.

    Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-meter (5,587-foot) twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted for 11 minutes and nine seconds late Thursday, authorities said, raising the volcano’s alert status to the highest level.

    As of 9:45 a.m. (0145 GMT) Friday, “seven international flights had been canceled, six of them are Jetstar flights bound to Australia and one Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur,” Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport spokesman, Andadina Dyah, said in a statement.

    Several other flights — both domestic and international, including to Thailand, Singapore and Australia — have been delayed, it said.

    The local government has declared a 14-day emergency and established a command post to coordinate response efforts, the country’s disaster agency spokesman (BNPB), Abdul Muhari, said in a statement on Friday.

    Abdul added that more than 4,700 residents have been evacuated as of Friday and called on those remaining to find a safe location.

    “The people are asked to remain in safe locations and follow directives from the regional government,” Abdul said.

    The local airport in Maumere, on Flores, the closest to the volcano, has not been affected by the ash, according to the transportation ministry.

    “The ash column was observed grey to black with thick intensity,” Indonesia’s volcanology agency said in a statement about the eruption, which began at around 11:00 p.m. on Thursday.

    Volcanic ash from the eruption blanketed several nearby villages on Friday.

    At least two people were injured, including a man whose roof collapsed under volcanic debris, a local official said.

    The agency warned residents of the risk of volcanic mudflows due to heavy rainfall.

    The long eruption prompted the country’s geological agency to raise the volcano’s alert level to the highest of the four-tiered system.

    Authorities imposed an exclusion zone between seven and eight kilometers (four to five miles) around the volcano, the agency added.

    In November, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted multiple times, killing nine people, canceling scores of international flights to the tourist island of Bali and forcing thousands to evacuate.

    Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for “woman.”

    Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

    AN-AFP

  • Menteri pertahanan Israel ancam jajah wilayah di Gaza sehingga Hamas bebaskan tebusan

    BAITULMAQDIS – Israel akan mengilhakkan wilayah di Semenanjung Gaza jika Hamas enggan membebaskan baki tebusan, Menteri Pertahanan Israel Israel Katz memberi amaran pada Jumaat.

    “Memandangkan Hamas meneruskan keengganannya untuk membebaskan tebusan Israel, ia akan kehilangan lebih banyak wilayah untuk diilhakkan oleh Israel. Israel akan meneruskan operasi dengan intensiti yang semakin meningkat sehingga tebusan dibebaskan,” kata Katz dalam satu kenyataan.

    Katz menambah dia telah mengarahkan Pasukan Pertahanan Israel (IDF) untuk merampas lebih banyak kawasan di Gaza, memindahkan penduduk, dan mengembangkan zon keselamatan di sekitar enklaf itu untuk melindungi masyarakat Israel dan askar IDF melalui kawalan tetap Israel di kawasan itu.

    “Kami memperhebatkan pertempuran dengan serangan dari udara, laut, dan darat dan dengan meluaskan gerakan darat sehingga tebusan dibebaskan dan Hamas dikalahkan, menggunakan semua cara tekanan tentera dan awam,” katanya.

    Katz berkata kaedah itu termasuk “memindahkan penduduk Gaza ke selatan dan melaksanakan rancangan pemindahan sukarela Presiden AS (Donald) Trump untuk penduduk Gaza,” merujuk kepada cadangan kontroversi Trump pada awal Februari untuk menempatkan semula penduduk Gaza dan untuk Amerika Syarikat mengambil alih kawasan itu, yang telah mencetuskan kritikan meluas.

    Israel menyambung semula serangan di Gaza pada Selasa selepas perjanjian gencatan senjata dengan Hamas yang bermula pada 19 Januari gagal. Tentera Israel kemudian melancarkan operasi darat di selatan, utara, dan tengah Gaza.

    Menurut pejabat media Gaza dikendalikan Hamas, angka kematian akibat serangan baharu Israel di Gaza telah menghampiri 600, selain lebih 1,000 yang cedera.

    Pada Khamis, setiausaha akhbar Rumah Putih Karoline Leavitt memberitahu wartawan bahawa Trump “menyokong sepenuhnya” serangan udara dan darat Israel yang diperbaharui ke atas Gaza.

    XINHUA

  • Israeli DM threatens to annex territories in Gaza until Hamas releases hostages

    JERUSALEM – Israel will annex territories in the Gaza Strip if Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Friday.

    “As Hamas continues its refusal to release the Israeli hostages, it will lose more and more territories to be annexed by Israel. Israel will continue the operation with increasing intensity until the hostages are released,” Katz said in a statement.

    Katz added he has instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to seize more areas in Gaza, evacuate the population, and expand the security zone around the enclave to protect Israeli communities and IDF soldiers through Israel’s permanent control of the area.

    “We are intensifying the fighting with strikes from the air, sea, and land and by expanding the ground maneuver until the hostages are released and Hamas is defeated, using all military and civilian means of pressure,” he stated.

    Katz said the methods would include “evacuating the Gaza population to the south and implementing U.S. President (Donald) Trump’s voluntary transfer plan for Gaza residents,” referring to Trump’s controversial proposal in early February to relocate Gaza residents and for the United States to take over the area, which has stirred widespread criticism.

    Israel resumed strikes in Gaza on Tuesday after its ceasefire deal with Hamas that began on Jan. 19 unraveled. Israeli troops later launched ground operations in southern, northern, and central Gaza.

    According to the Hamas-run Gaza media office, the death toll from the renewed Israeli strikes in Gaza has neared 600, in addition to more than 1,000 wounded.

    On Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump “fully supports” Israel’s renewed air and ground assault on Gaza.

    XINHUA

  • Sekurang-kurangnya 6 maut dalam kejadian bangunan runtuh di tengah Mesir

    KAHERAH – Sekurang-kurangnya enam orang terbunuh pada Jumaat, termasuk seorang ibu dan dua anaknya, dalam kejadian bangunan tiga tingkat runtuh di wilayah Asyut tengah Mesir.

    Menurut kenyataan disiarkan di laman Facebook rasmi wilayah itu, runtuhan itu turut menyebabkan 11 orang cedera, yang kemudiannya dipindahkan oleh pasukan perlindungan awam ke hospital awam terdekat.

    XINHUA

  • At least 6 killed in building collapse in central Egypt

    CAIRO – At least six people were killed on Friday, including a mother and her two children, in a three-story building collapse in Egypt’s central Asyut province.

    According to a statement published on the province’s official Facebook page, the collapse also left 11 persons wounded, who were later transferred by the civil protection forces to the nearest public hospital.

    XINHUA

  • Pembangkang Israel memfailkan petisyen terhadap pemecatan ketua Shin Bet

    JERUSALEM – Puak pembangkang utama parlimen Israel memfailkan petisyen kepada Mahkamah Tinggi Keadilan pada Jumaat berikutan keputusan sebulat suara kerajaan Israel untuk memecat Ronen Bar, ketua perkhidmatan keselamatan dalam negeri Israel Shin Bet.

    Dalam petisyen itu, empat puak – Yesh Atid, Perpaduan Nasional, Yisrael Beiteinu, dan Demokrat – meminta perintah untuk membatalkan pemecatan Bar.

    Petisyen itu mendakwa bahawa “permulaan tergesa-gesa pemecatan” telah diambil dengan konflik kepentingan yang teruk oleh Perdana Menteri Benjamin Netanyahu, berdasarkan pertimbangan luar, berkaitan penyiasatan Shin Bet terhadap pejabat Netanyahu, yang “jelas menunjukkan tanggungjawab eselon politik untuk bencana 7 Oktober.”

    “Perkara ini menjadi lebih penting kerana perdana menteri menghalang penubuhan suruhanjaya siasatan negeri, dan seluruh kerajaan secara terbuka dan secara sedar melambatkan langkah yang boleh meneliti tanggungjawabnya terhadap bencana itu,” baca petisyen itu.

    Pejabat Netanyahu berkata dalam satu kenyataan awal pagi Jumaat bahawa kerajaan Israel telah sebulat suara meluluskan pemecatan Bar.

    Hari terakhir Bar memegang jawatan ditetapkan pada 10 April, lebih awal daripada yang dirancang pada 20 April, walaupun dia mungkin akan keluar lebih awal jika pengganti disahkan.

    Media Israel berkata ini adalah kali pertama dalam sejarah Israel bahawa ketua Shin Bet telah dikeluarkan oleh kerajaan. Mesyuarat untuk memuktamadkan pemecatannya berlangsung kira-kira tiga setengah jam.

    Bar tidak hadir pada mesyuarat itu tetapi menghantar surat mengutuk tindakan itu sebagai “sepenuhnya dicemari oleh konflik kepentingan” dan percubaan “pada asasnya tidak sah” untuk menghalang siasatan Shin Bet terhadap pengaruh Qatar ke atas pejabat Netanyahu, lapor media tempatan. Dia merujuk kepada siasatan berhubung hubungan antara pembantu rapat Netanyahu dan kerajaan Qatar. Qatar telah memainkan peranan penting dalam pengantaraan antara Israel dan Hamas untuk gencatan senjata di Semenanjung Gaza dan pembebasan tebusan Israel. Bagaimanapun, Qatar dan Israel pada masa ini tidak mempunyai hubungan diplomatik rasmi.

    XINHUA

  • Israeli opposition parties file petition against Shin Bet head’s dismissal

    JERUSALEM – The main opposition factions of the Israeli parliament filed a petition with the High Court of Justice on Friday following the Israeli government’s unanimous decision to dismiss Ronen Bar, chief of Israel’s internal security service Shin Bet.

    In the petition, four factions — Yesh Atid, National Unity, Yisrael Beiteinu, and the Democrats — requested an order to overturn Bar’s dismissal.

    The petition claimed that the “hasty initiation of the dismissal” was taken with a severe conflict of interest by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, based on extraneous considerations, related to Shin Bet’s investigation into Netanyahu’s office, which “clearly indicated the responsibility of the political echelon for the October 7 disaster.”

    “These things take on added significance as the prime minister prevents the setup of a state commission of inquiry, and the entire government is openly and knowingly delaying a move that could examine its responsibility for the disaster,” read the petition.

    Netanyahu’s office said in a statement early Friday morning that the Israeli government has unanimously approved Bar’s dismissal.

    Bar’s last day in office is set for April 10, earlier than the initially planned April 20, though he may leave sooner if a replacement is confirmed.

    Israeli media said this is the first time in Israel’s history that a Shin Bet head has been removed by the government. The meeting to finalize his dismissal lasted about three and a half hours.

    Bar was not present at the meeting but sent a letter condemning the move as being “entirely tainted by conflicts of interest” and a “fundamentally invalid” attempt to obstruct the Shin Bet’s investigation into Qatar’s influence on Netanyahu’s office, local media reported. He referred to an inquiry into ties between Netanyahu’s close aides and the Qatari government. Qatar has played a key role in mediating between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Israeli hostages. However, Qatar and Israel currently do not have formal diplomatic relations.

    XINHUA

  • Kerajaan Israel lulus pemecatan ketua Shin Bet: media

    TEL AVIV – Kerajaan Israel sebulat suara meluluskan pemecatan ketua Shin Bet Ronen Bar pada awal Jumaat. Penggalnya akan berakhir pada 10 April, menurut laporan media Israel.

  • Israeli government approves dismissal of Shin Bet head: media

    TEL AVIV – The Israeli government unanimously approved the dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar on early Friday. His term will end on April 10, according to Israeli media reports.

    XINHUA

  • Sekurang-kurangnya 91 terbunuh di Gaza ketika Israel meninggalkan gencatan senjata, mengarahkan pemindahan

    Seorang kanak-kanak melihat ketika orang ramai meratapi rakyat Palestin yang terkorban dalam serangan Israel, di hospital Eropah di Khan Younis di selatan Semenanjung Gaza 20 Mac 2025. REUTERS

    KAHERAH/GAZA – Sekurang-kurangnya 91 rakyat Palestin terbunuh dan berpuluh-puluh lagi cedera dalam serangan udara di seluruh Gaza pada Khamis selepas Israel menyambung semula pengeboman dan operasi darat, kata kementerian kesihatan wilayah itu, menghentikan gencatan senjata selama dua bulan.

    Selepas dua bulan agak tenang, rakyat Gaza sekali lagi melarikan diri untuk nyawa mereka selepas Israel meninggalkan gencatan senjata, melancarkan kempen baru udara dan darat habis-habisan terhadap kumpulan militan Palestin yang dominan di Gaza, Hamas.

    Pesawat Israel menggugurkan risalah di kawasan perumahan, mengarahkan orang ramai keluar dari pekan Beit Lahiya dan Beit Hanoun di utara, daerah Shejaia di bandar Gaza dan bandar di pinggir timur Khan Younis di selatan.

    Lewat Khamis, tentera Israel berkata ia telah memulakan operasi darat di daerah Shaboura di bandar paling selatan Gaza, Rafah, yang bersempadan dengan sempadan Mesir.

    “Perang kembali, perpindahan dan kematian kembali, adakah kita akan bertahan dalam pusingan ini?” kata Samed Sami, 29, yang melarikan diri dari Shejaia untuk memasang khemah untuk keluarganya di sebuah perkhemahan di tanah lapang.

    Sehari selepas menghantar kereta kebal ke tengah Gaza, tentera Israel berkata pada Khamis ia juga telah mula menjalankan operasi darat di utara enklaf padat penduduk itu, di sepanjang laluan pantai di Beit Lahiya.

    Hamas, yang tidak bertindak balas dalam 48 jam pertama serangan Israel yang diperbaharui, berkata pejuangnya melepaskan roket ke Israel. Tentera Israel berkata siren berbunyi di tengah negara itu selepas peluru dilancarkan dari Gaza.

    Beberapa penduduk Gaza berkata belum ada tanda-tanda persiapan oleh Hamas di lapangan untuk meneruskan pertempuran.

    Tetapi seorang pegawai dari satu kumpulan militan yang bersekutu dengan Hamas, yang meminta untuk tidak dikenali, memberitahu Reuters pada Khamis bahawa pejuang, termasuk dari Hamas, telah diletakkan dalam keadaan berjaga-jaga menunggu arahan selanjutnya.

    Pejuang juga telah diberitahu untuk berhenti menggunakan telefon bimbit.

    Dengan rundingan gagal untuk merapatkan perbezaan dalam terma untuk melanjutkan gencatan senjata, tentera meneruskan serangan udaranya ke atas Gaza dengan kempen pengeboman besar-besaran pada Selasa sebelum menghantar tentera pada hari selepas itu.

    RATUSAN MATI

    Ia berkata pada Khamis bahawa tenteranya telah terlibat sejak 24 jam lalu dalam apa yang disifatkannya sebagai operasi untuk mengembangkan zon penampan yang memisahkan bahagian utara dan selatan Gaza, yang dikenali sebagai koridor Netzarim.

    Israel mengarahkan penduduk menjauhi jalan Salahuddin, laluan utama utara-selatan Gaza, dan sebaliknya berkata mereka harus melalui di sepanjang pantai.

    Hari pertama serangan udara yang disambung pada Selasa membunuh lebih 400 rakyat Palestin, salah satu hari paling maut dalam konflik 17 bulan itu, dengan sedikit berhenti sejak itu.

    Dalam tamparan terhadap Hamas ketika ia berusaha untuk membina semula pentadbirannya di Gaza, serangan minggu ini telah membunuh beberapa tokoh tertingginya, termasuk ketua kerajaan Gaza yang dilantik secara de facto Hamas, ketua perkhidmatan keselamatan, pembantunya, dan timbalan ketua kementerian kehakiman yang dikendalikan Hamas.

    Kumpulan Islamis itu berkata operasi darat Israel dan pencerobohan ke koridor Netzarim adalah “pelanggaran baharu dan berbahaya” terhadap perjanjian gencatan senjata. Dalam satu kenyataan, ia mengesahkan komitmennya terhadap perjanjian itu dan menyeru pengantara untuk “memikul tanggungjawab mereka”.

    Bagi Israel, kembali kepada perang penuh boleh membuktikan rumit, beberapa pegawai semasa dan bekas Israel berkata, di tengah-tengah kemerosotan sokongan awam dan keletihan dalam kalangan tentera simpanan.

    Penunjuk perasaan menuduh Netanyahu meneruskan perang atas sebab politik dan membahayakan nyawa tebusan yang masih ada.

    Fasa pertama sementara gencatan senjata berakhir pada awal bulan ini. Hamas mahu bergerak ke fasa kedua yang dipersetujui, di mana Israel akan dikehendaki berunding untuk menamatkan perang dan pengunduran tenteranya dari Gaza, dan tebusan Israel yang masih ditahan di sana akan ditukar dengan tahanan Palestin.

    Israel hanya menawarkan lanjutan sementara gencatan senjata, memotong semua bekalan ke Gaza dan berkata ia memulakan semula kempen ketenteraannya untuk memaksa Hamas membebaskan saki-baki tebusan.

    Tentera Israel berkata ia telah memintas dua peluru berpandu yang dilepaskan ke arah Israel dari Yaman pada Khamis, satu pada awal pagi dan satu lagi pada waktu petang. Tiada laporan mengenai kemalangan jiwa. Pasukan Houthi Yaman yang bersekutu dengan Iran kadang-kadang melepaskan peluru berpandu ke arah Israel untuk menyokong rakyat Palestin di Gaza.

    ‘KAMI TIDAK MAHU MATI’

    Gencatan senjata itu telah membolehkan Huda Junaid, suaminya dan keluarganya kembali ke tapak rumah mereka yang musnah untuk berkhemah di runtuhan. Tetapi mereka kini terpaksa melarikan diri semula, mengemas beberapa barang yang tinggal ke dalam kereta keldai dan mencari tempat baru untuk memasang khemah mereka dekat sekolah.

    “Kami tidak mahu perang, kami tidak mahu mati. Cukup, kami sudah muak. Tiada lagi kanak-kanak di Gaza, semua anak kami sudah mati, semua saudara-mara kami sudah mati,” katanya.

    Seorang kanak-kanak melihat ketika rakyat Palestin meninjau tapak serangan Israel ke atas sebuah rumah, di Khan Younis di selatan Semenanjung Gaza 20 Mac 2025. REUTERS

    Bercakap kepada Reuters pada Khamis, seorang pegawai Hamas berkata pengantara telah meningkatkan usaha dengan kedua-dua pihak yang bertelagah tetapi belum ada kejayaan.

    Peperangan bermula selepas militan Hamas menyerang komuniti Israel dekat sempadan Gaza pada Oktober 2023, membunuh 1,200 orang dan merampas 250 tebusan, menurut pengiraan Israel. Lebih 49,000 rakyat Palestin telah terbunuh dalam konflik yang berlaku, menurut pihak berkuasa kesihatan Gaza, dengan sebahagian besar kawasan itu menjadi runtuhan.

    REUTERS

  • At least 91 killed in Gaza as Israel abandons ceasefire, orders evacuations

    A child looks on as people mourn Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at the European hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 20, 2025. REUTERS

    CAIRO/GAZA – At least 91 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday after Israel resumed bombing and ground operations, the enclave’s health ministry said, effectively ditching a two-month-old ceasefire.

    After two months of relative calm, Gazans were again fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign against Gaza’s dominant Palestinian militant group Hamas.

    Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets on residential neighbourhoods, ordering people out of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun towns in the north, the Shejaia district in Gaza City and towns on the eastern outskirts of Khan Younis in the south.

    Late on Thursday, Israel’s military said it had begun ground operations in the Shaboura district of Gaza’s southernmost city Rafah, which abuts the Egyptian border.

    “War is back, displacement and death are back, will we survive this round?” said Samed Sami, 29, who fled Shejaia to put up a tent for his family in a camp on open ground.

    A day after sending tanks into central Gaza, the Israeli military said on Thursday it had also begun conducting ground operations in the north of the densely populated enclave, along the coastal route in Beit Lahiya.

    Hamas, which had not retaliated during the first 48 hours of the renewed Israeli assault, said its fighters fired rockets into Israel. The Israeli military said sirens sounded in the centre of the country after projectiles were launched from Gaza.

    Some Gazans said there were no signs yet of preparations by Hamas on the ground to resume fighting.

    But an official from one militant group allied to Hamas, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters on Thursday that fighters, including from Hamas, had been put on alert awaiting further instructions.

    Fighters had also been told to stop using mobile phones.

    With talks having failed to bridge differences over terms to extend the ceasefire, the military resumed its air assaults on Gaza with a massive bombing campaign on Tuesday before sending soldiers in the day after.

    HUNDREDS DEAD

    It said on Thursday that its forces had been engaged for the past 24 hours in what it described as an operation to expand a buffer zone separating the northern and southern halves of Gaza, known as the Netzarim corridor.

    Israel ordered residents to stay away from the Salahuddin road, Gaza’s main north-south route, and said they should travel along the coast instead.

    Tuesday’s first day of resumed airstrikes killed more than 400 Palestinians, one of the deadliest days of the 17-month-old conflict, with scant let-up since then.

    In a blow to Hamas as it sought to rebuild its administration in Gaza, this week’s strikes have killed some of its top figures, including the de facto Hamas-appointed head of the Gaza government, the chief of security services, his aide, and the deputy head of the Hamas-run justice ministry.

    The Islamist group said the Israeli ground operation and the incursion into the Netzarim corridor were a “new and dangerous violation” of the ceasefire agreement. In a statement, it reaffirmed its commitment to the deal and called on mediators to “assume their responsibilities”.

    For Israel, a return to full-blown war could prove complicated, some current and former Israeli officials say, amid waning public support and burnout among military reservists.

    Protesters accuse Netanyahu of continuing the war for political reasons and endangering the lives of remaining hostages.

    A temporary first phase of the ceasefire ended at the start of this month. Hamas wants to move to an agreed second phase, under which Israel would be required to negotiate an end to the war and withdrawal of its troops from Gaza, and Israeli hostages still held there would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

    Israel has offered only a temporary extension of the truce, cut off all supplies to Gaza and said it was restarting its military campaign to force Hamas to free remaining hostages.

    The Israeli military said it had intercepted two missiles fired towards Israel from Yemen on Thursday, one in the early hours and the other in the evening. There were no reports of casualties. Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi forces have occasionally fired missiles at Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

    ‘WE DON’T WANT DEATH’

    The ceasefire had allowed Huda Junaid, her husband and family to return to the site of their destroyed home to camp out in the ruins. But they were now forced to flee again, packing their few remaining belongings into a donkey cart and searching for a new place to pitch their tent near a school.

    “We don’t want war, we don’t want death. Enough, we are fed up. There are no longer children in Gaza, all of our children are dead, all of our relatives are dead,” she said.

    A child looks on as Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 20, 2025. REUTERS

    Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, a Hamas official said mediators had stepped up efforts with the two warring sides but no breakthrough had yet come.

    The war began after Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities near the Gaza border in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
    More than 49,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s health authorities, with much of the enclave reduced to rubble.

    REUTERS