JAKARTA: Indonesia has denied visas to Israeli gymnasts, costing them a spot in a world championship in Jakarta this month, a sports official in the Southeast Asian nation said on Friday, amid outcry over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The Israeli team was set to participate in the World Artistic Gymnastics championship from October 19 to 25 in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, which has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel.
“They are confirmed to not be attending,” Ita Juliati, the chief of the Indonesian gymnastics federation, told reporters.
The Israel Gymnastics Federation did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Indonesia decided not to issue visas to the Israeli athletes, senior legal affairs minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said, citing objections from groups such as a council of Islamic clerics and the government in Jakarta, the capital.
The decision is in line with Indonesia’s policy of having no ties with Israel until it recognizes “the independence and full sovereignty of the state of Palestine,” Yusril added in a statement on Friday.
The most recent Israeli campaign in Gaza, which began in October 2023 over an attack by Hamas and has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the enclave, has drawn criticism from Indonesia.
Israel launched the assault after Hamas-led militants stormed through Israeli towns and a music festival, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages.
A recent Instagram post from the Indonesian gymnastics federation drew hundreds of pro-Palestinian comments from domestic users, days after an Israeli association said it would attend the Jakarta event.
Under the government of President Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia has softened its Israel stance slightly.
The world must have an independent Palestine, but also recognize and guarantee the safety and security of Israel, Prabowo told last month’s session of the United Nations General Assembly.
It is not the first sports-related dispute between the two countries.
In March 2023, FIFA dropped Indonesia as host of the Under-20 World Cup, citing failure to honor its commitments, after a regional governor refused to host the Israeli team.
Last month, UN experts called for FIFA and the Union of European Football to suspend Israel as a country team from international football, as “a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
Israel has dismissed accusations of genocide.
Indonesia denies visas to Israel gymnasts amid Gaza outcry
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Indonesia denies visas to Israel gymnasts amid Gaza outcry
- The Israeli team was set to participate in the World Artistic Gymnastics championship from October 19 to 25 in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country
Pakistan says 34 militants killed in counterterror operations in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this week
- Security forces carried out a series of ‘high tempo intelligence-driven operations’ this week in the two provinces
- The counterterror operations take place amid surging tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed 34 militants this week in the southwestern Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces bordering Afghanistan, the military’s media wing said on Wednesday amid a surge in militant attacks in the country.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said security forces carried out a series of “high tempo intelligence-driven operations” this week in the two provinces. It said 26 militants belonging to the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) outfit were killed while eight militants were killed in Balochistan in the operations.
In the first counterterror operation on Tuesday, Pakistani forces targeted a TTP militant who was trying to enter the country in North Waziristan through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the ISPR said. Three TTP militants were killed in a second counterterror operation in Lakki Marwat district, the military added.
In the third counterterror operation, 10 TTP militants were killed in Bannu district while 12 others were gunned down in North Waziristan in another separate operation, the ISPR said.
“During the fifth engagement, own troops conducted an intelligence-based operation in the general area of Sambaza, Zhob District,” the military’s media wing said in a statement.
“After an intense fire exchange, eight terrorists belonging to Fitna Al Hindustan were successfully neutralized.”
Pakistan’s military uses the terms “Fitna Al-Khwarij” for the TTP and “Fitna Al Hindustan” for separatist militants in Balochistan. Islamabad alleges these militant groups are supported by India, a charge New Delhi has always denied.
The ISPR said security forces retrieved weapons and ammunition from the militants in Balochistan’s Zhob district, adding that they were involved in “terrorist activities” in the area.
“The security forces of Pakistan remain resolute and unwavering in their commitment to defend the nation’s frontiers,” the ISPR said.
Four police personnel killed
Separately, four police personnel were killed in KP’s district Bajaur on Wednesday after they were ambushed by unidentified gunmen.
The police personnel were on patrol duty when the gunmen opened fire on them, a statement from the chief minister’s office said.
“Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot shake the resolve and morale of the police force,” Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was quoted as saying.
The counterterror operations take place amid surging tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad said it carried out strikes on alleged militant camps in Afghanistan on Saturday night, killing over 100 militants.
Afghanistan said the attacks violated its territorial sovereignty, accusing Islamabad of killing and wounding dozens of civilians.
Islamabad alleges militants based in Afghanistan are responsible for surging militant attacks inside Pakistani territory. Afghanistan rejects these allegations and urges Pakistan to focus on its security challenges instead of blaming Kabul.
