Hamas urges Palestinians to march to Al-Aqsa

Hamas has urged Palestinians to march to Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem at the start of Ramadan. The call by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh followed comments by Biden that an agreement could be reached between Israel and Hamas as soon as next week for a ceasefire during the Muslim fasting month expected to start this year on March 10.

Israel and Hamas, which both have delegations in Qatar this week hammering out details of a potential 40-day truce, have said there is still a big gulf between them, and the Qatari mediators say there is no breakthrough yet.

Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem's old city, one of the world's holiest sites for Muslims has long been a flashpoint for potential violence, particularly during religious holidays.

Haniyeh also called on the self-styled Axis of Resistance - allies of Iran including Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq - as well as Arab states, to step up their support for Palestinians in Gaza suffering under Israel's assault and blockade.

"It is the duty of the Arab and Islamic nations to take the initiative to break the starvation conspiracy in Gaza," Haniyeh said.

One Palestinian official with knowledge of the ceasfire talks told Reuters mediation efforts were intensifying, but there was no certainty of success.

"Time is pressuring because Ramadan is closing in, mediators have stepped up their efforts," said the official, "It is early to say whether there will be an agreement soon, but things are not stalled," he said.

Israeli Defence Minister Gallant, asked about Biden's optimistic comments that a deal could be reached by next week, said: "Who am I to express an opinion about what the president said? I very much hope that he is right."

Food aid reaching Gaza has severely declined over the past month, and international aid agencies say residents are close to famine. Israel says its blockade on Gaza is essential in its war against Hamas and that it is allowing in humanitarian supplies.

On Wednesday, Israel said it had cooperated with the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, France and the United States in an airdrop of food aid to southern Gaza.

In Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population is sheltering, several masked men armed with clubs and some with guns toured the markets in what they said was a bid to keep prices in check.

Their head scarves read 'Committee of People's Protection.' A masked spokesman told reporters they were formed to back the Hamas-led interior ministry, and make sure people weren't being exploited.

Aid agencies say the situation is most dire in the north of the Gaza Strip, which has been almost entirely cut off. Gaza's health ministry said on Wednesday that four children had died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration at northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, which had earlier said it was halting operations as it had run out of fuel.

 

 

 

Indonesia to suspend palm oil export permits

Indonesia will suspend some palm oil export permits to secure domestic supply amid rising cooking oil prices ahead of upcoming Ramadan, senior cabinet minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on his official Instagram account on Monday.

Palm oil exporters had accumulated large shipment quotas last year and they now had little incentive to supply the domestic market, he said.

Indonesia issues export permits for palm oil companies that have already sold a proportion of their products to the domestic market, under a policy known as Domestic Market Obligation (DMO).

The DMO currently allows export volumes that are six times what companies have sold at home.

"Exporters can use those export rights after the situation has calmed," said Luhut, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment.

Firman Hidayat, an official at the same ministry, said about a third of existing export quotas could be used now, while the rest could be used after May 01, 2023.

He added exporters were holding around 5.9 million tons worth of export permits at end of January.

Exporters could increase their quota when they raised supplies to the domestic market, he said.

Retailers have complained that cooking oil packages at lower prices have been hard to procure and they have been forced to sell them above the regulated price of 14,000 rupiah (US$0.93) per litre.

The Trade Ministry last month said palm oil companies had been ordered to increase domestic supply to 450,000 tons per month until April, up from roughly 300,000 tons per month previously.

Food prices typically rise ahead of the Islamic month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr celebration which falls in April this year.

Sahat Sinaga, chair of the Indonesia Palm Oil Board, said companies have been holding back exports, due to lower global market prices and high export levies. With little urgency for exports, companies were also not encouraged to meet their DMO.

Malaysian benchmark palm oil prices have fallen more than 40% since reaching a peak last year. Meanwhile, Indonesia resumed imposing export levies in November.

Sahat blamed distributors for the tight supply in the domestic market.

"This is a difficult situation, but everybody must work together. Distributors should not take advantage of the situation," he said.

Rattling global edible oil markets, Indonesia last year banned exports of palm oil used in everything from margarine to cosmetics and fuel for three weeks due to soaring cooking oil prices.

But palm oil prices have since fallen back sharply to stabilize at lower levels as the outlook is now less certain with energy prices off their highs and fears over a global recession.

Malaysia's palm oil futures market was closed on Monday for a public holiday.