 The lights have all but gone out in Gaza after the fifth day of continuous shelling from the Israeli side. The lone power plant on the Gaza Strip has shut down for lack of fuel, leaving only nighttime shelling to give breaks from otherwise the oil-encompassing darkness in Gaza right now. Casually figures on both sides are bonding and while the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations has called on the international community to urge for a humanitarian ceasefire, Israel is set to form an emergency water in government. Is this the final step we ask before a ground invasion of Gaza by the Israeli military? And in Indonesia, labor unions have condemned the constitutional courts ruling on the issuing of a government regulation instead of the job creation law, which trade unions had challenged. Unions are also demanding that the government accept a 15% increase in minimum wage. What is this ominous law and how are workers exactly fighting against it? All this on today's episode of Daily Debrate brought to you by People's Dispatch. Take a second and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Gaza is on the verge of a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe. It's two million plus residents, many of whom have nothing to do, of course, with Hamas are facing collective punishment from Israel after the unprecedented attacks by sea, air and land within Israeli territory. As they have for the better part of decades now, of course, they've faced these kinds of conditions, the blockade by Israel and open air prison has been described as often. But the sheer scale of destruction this time, the loss of life and violence is unprecedented. On the Israeli side, media reports indicate that the death toll is over 1200 and engagements continue both in the south, which is of course the border with Gaza and at the northern border with Lebanon, where there have been incidents or incidents have been reported between the Israeli military and his Gullah fighters. At the United Nations, the Palestinian ambassador held a press conference. He also met with senior UN officials and asked for the international community, including the UN Security Council, to enforce or to push for the humanitarian ceasefire to allow for aid, winter for people to be evacuated for essential supplies to be brought in and for sound relief to be brought to the people of Gaza. He's also said that the governments of Egypt and Jordan are willing to step up to the plate with his words and help other nations, including of course the Security Council as I was saying earlier, need to step up as well to push for an immediate end to the fighting. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden reiterated the United States' full support to Israel, military aid is going in and the Secretary of State, Anthony Lincoln, will be in Israel soon. Anish is following developments in Gaza and in Israel as he has been since last week and is with us on the show. Let's go across now to him for the latest. Anish, fifth day of selling, first of all, what updates are you receiving from reporting that is coming in? So Sadant, what we're looking at is tragedy unfolding in various ways right now in the Gaza Strip. One of the things that we rightly pointed out is the fact that the entire area of land is now without electricity because the last power plant ran out of fuel. Now most dozens would have to depend on the kind of rationing that the authorities there, pretty much led by Hamas at this point, will be rationing on whatever little fuel they have to conserve for emergency services and also probably for military action. On the other hand, you also have complete lockdown, as we have been talking about for a while, now that they have actually what they call as securing the borders with Gaza, it has pretty much been a complete lockdown and there is no way for even humanitarian corridor to actually make way into the Gaza for aid, for medicines, for emergency supplies of all sorts. Something that should not be undermined or disturbed during a war or during a military crisis, but something that Israel doesn't give to hoots about as far as we can see right now. What they are looking at and from the statements that we have seen from the Israeli authorities as well, you have the National Security Minister talking about how calling dozens human animals or human beasts and talking about how they will have to be dealt with like animals. And then you have the Prime Minister Netanyahu talking about how it has to be a war till the end. And now we are also looking at calls for a unity government, a war cabinet of sorts. Benny Gantz of the Blue and White Coalition has already put in his favor on the matter and said that they will be part of a new national unity government and will be part of the war cabinet. It is quite likely that he left it of another opposition leader and currently the main opposition leader in the Neset will be also trying to join, but he has certain conditionalities, one of which is basically he wants the war if it goes on to be fought till the end and not be any compromises. So basically even the opposition, some of the major opposition in Israel is right now calling for total all-out war against all dozens and we are looking at not just Hamas, they did not make any distinction at this point between Hamas and dozens or any Palestinians. We are looking at a government regime that is actually keen on imposing collective punishment on over 2 million people and without any care for international laws or international customs or any pressures at this point for that matter. And also continued reports on each of the two build up, the build up of military equipment and other materials, stocks and supplies on the border. We've been sort of talking about and examining the possibility of a ground invasion. Is that becoming more and more likely and with some of this talk that is coming from other political leaders in Israel that even make Benjamin Yahu sound like a relative, moderate leader. It doesn't point to sort of very encouraging direction. Exactly. The more days it lags on, the airstrikes continue, the more likely it seems that a ground invasion is imminent and that's actually going to be a significant disaster if it actually happens because that hasn't happened since perhaps 1967 I guess, where an all out war with thousands of Israeli troops trying to storm into Gaza is likely put at this point. But that's how conditions have come to at this point in time. But we also have to look at how the Israeli response has been like relatively slow. They are calculating because obviously a lot of their strategy was compromised by Hamas's offensive and this resistance movement's offensive actually kind of undermined whatever major like this. We talk about the image of impenetrability and invincibility, but there's also the fact that it was a major and catastrophic military intelligence failure. That is something that they are yet to recoup from in a manner that they can actually form a coherent front. And that is something I don't want to get into, but this is pretty much why there is relatively slower response. It actually took them days to secure the so-called secure the borders with Gaza. It clearly shows that there was a problem with command at that level because obviously their existing strategies, their drills, their plans were pretty much compromised by this offensive. And that is what kind of also is lagging right now, even if they want to actually look for an invasion into one of the most densely populated territories in the world right now. On the other hand, this is coming with some level of very overt support from the United States, the kind that we have never seen before. And that is pretty much a bold link, the kind of very pro-war, very violent rhetoric that we are seeing among Israeli leadership with very, very few and rare exceptions, like some in the Labor Party calling out the government for using terms like deeming dozens to be human beings and stuff like that. So there are very rare voices of sanity, but apart from that, a large part of the Israeli elite and the ruling classes have actually taken to this consensus that they have to invade. They have to give a more, if not equal, but more violent response against Gaza in response to the offensive and that is going to create a bigger tragedy, a bigger catastrophe that the Middle East might have never seen before. Yeah, if we can talk a bit more on the subject of the United States, of course, and its involvement in the region. Militarily, there's of course no comparison between the Israeli defense forces, what I call the Israeli defense forces, and of course Hamas and whatever allies it might have in the region. Israel being one of the strongest militaries in the world, according to various reports published by global think tanks and other organizations. And yet, military aid from the US, like you are pointing out, continues to pour in high tech, military aid, iron dome, for example, replenishments, F-35 fighter jets. Of course, there's also the sending of carrier battles. So these are not toys and things to be trifled with. Anthony Blinken is also said to visit at some point probably pretty soon. How does the diplomatic aid and the military aid to Israel kind of, what would be the purpose of this visit? And what further can the US really do to embolden what is already a far right leadership? Well, at this point, one of the things that we have to talk about is the fact that in past US presidencies, while they have always turned a blind eye to Israeli atrocities on the Palestinians and on Palestinian lands, and obviously, like the continued colonization of Palestine, there is a certain difference in how when you turn a blind eye and when you go all out in support of a regime that is intent to commit genocide, it has very openly called for wiping out Gaza of the map. And you have many members in the government, in the political leadership, talking about these things. And the US is completely fine with that at this point. And this clearly shows a very change in stance from what past US administrations had done. Mostly they would be very pro-Israel, obviously, and pretty much for all intents and purposes, but they would not really be seen condoning atrocities so openly, or wars that were initiated by Israel that openly. It was almost always like Israel has the right to defend, and we stand against terrorism and stuff like that. But therefore, really giving all out support in the manner in which it is doing right now. And that is something that is far more dispensatory. But obviously, US is not likely to be directly involved at this point either, because right now, even the sending of the US, the aircraft carrier into the Mediterranean and inching it closer to Israel is basically just a move against any kind of outside help that Hamas might get, say from Hezbollah, or what the US claims might happen with Iran being involved, or maybe any other outside forces, outside the territories of Israel and Palestine. So this is pretty much a preemptive deterrent that US is trying to push. We have to wait and see how far that goes. But what we need to understand is that Hamas is quite aware, and even Palestinians are quite aware of how this is not a war between equals. So they are going to be having a different kind of guerrilla warfare that has never been seen before in recent memory. And this is not something that Israel itself would want to actually be involved in at this point in time. But definitely, from the trajectory that we are seeing, there is no pressures about Israel that is actually preventing it from going forward with this plan. And this is despite the condemnations from its neighbors. Arab nations are currently, as we speak, holding a meeting in Cairo, foreign ministers meeting, and they are trying to decide on their path forward on Gaza and the Israeli aggression. And despite that, none of those pressures are really because Israel pretty much leads only to US or European pressures. And there is pretty much complete support at this point in time. And that is what the most concerning part is, how the West has clearly come out in favor of Israel pretty much for all intents and purposes, even to the extent of supporting genocidal calls. And that is something that really needs to be not just called out, it needs to be pretty much brought to light to the point that it actually makes a difference eventually. Yeah, condemned in harsh terms as we have to condemn all sort of civilians who have been targeted in the course of this current conflict. And we'll leave Gaza for the moment or for this episode, at least thanks for those updates, but we'll be back with you in a second, but because we're talking about Indonesia and Southeast Asia is a region that you cover for people's dispatch on a regular basis. So we'll be coming back to you in just a second, because in Indonesia, as I was mentioning at the top of the show, organized labor is mounting pressure on the widow government to accept its demands for a 15% increase in the minimum wage in that country. While of course, also alongside continuing its struggle against the omnibus law on job creation, which the government has pushed through and now the constitutional court in Indonesia has also rejected and appealed by trade unions against the passage of that law. The Labor Party of Indonesia and trade unions said that in light of the government already having increased the salaries of civil servants, the likes of the army, the police, and even some pensioners, as well as of course the omnibus law, there are urgent grounds for it to accept demands for a higher minimum wage. Anish, how strong is this sort of labor movement in Indonesia making these demands and how much pressure are they able to exert on widow government? Well, the trade union movement in Indonesia is quite extensive and like we have seen during the protests and rallies that have happened against the so-called omnibus law or what the government calls the job creation bill was something that was phenomenal in many respects because for a very long time, Indonesian labor was seen conducting the level of mass mobilization that we saw during the time and that momentum continues in many respects. The omnibus law continues to be a very contentious piece of legislation and while the recent judgment was to dismiss the petition against the creation of the law, the process of the creation of this legislation, there is yet to be a judgment or a ruling or even for that matter a consideration by the top court on the content of the law itself and that is where we will have to wait and see if there will be any progress in terms of judicial intervention. But other than that, the fact that workers continue to put pressure on the government and the fact that they are continuing to combine it with other struggles that matter to workers in general, like the minimum wages, the demand for a higher minimum wage is something that has been ongoing for a very long time and the current 15% as a demand for next year is something that might seem steep but if you look at it, Indonesia is one of those countries that actually had it worse when it comes to the recent cost of living crisis, the shortage and supply chain disruptions that we see during the pandemic and after that as well and because it is a very important dependent country in many respects especially for consumer products and durable goods and even food in certain respects, it is definitely something that has affected workers far worse than many of its neighbors even and so in this respect, this demand is not without its justification. There is already a plan by the government, by the widow government to actually hike government salarymen and pensioners by giving them a 10% to 12% raise and this is already much lower than what the trade unions are asking for but it clearly shows that it is not an impossible demand to happen for workers at last and considering that they are aiming at the general elections, it clearly shows that they are aiming at making and mobilizing the working class as a block among itself as a political block that can actually make a difference in the upcoming general elections which is going to be like considering the current political climate will be far more complex than what Indonesia has seen in for a very long time and so obviously if Widoro wants his success to continue, already we are looking at reports of his son wanting to be the next vice president and might be a running mate for his chosen candidate so there is definitely a big stakes, high stakes for him to actually make a decision that will be acceptable to the trade unions and to the working class at large. Incentive, political incentive for sure. Anish, but what has been the approach in general if I can ask you briefly off the widow government towards sort of pandemic recovery and is getting workers back on their feet, giving them a bit of stability and a bit of maybe extra spending money, is that part of the consideration set? Well it's very difficult to say because when you look at his treatment of the demands raised by workers during the anti-opinionist law protest, it was pretty much cold-shouldering them throughout the entire incident and even the amended aspects of the law, we see the government trying to overlook the workers in most cases but nevertheless the fact that these pressures are working was definitely illustrated by the fact that they had to eventually amend the significant sections of the law before it was passed into a proper legislation and that was something that also came because of the court threat to actually declare it annulled because of various procedural problems and also various other issues with the law itself but the fact that it happened because of massive pressures from the ground shows that they are not some they're not a block that can be completely ignored and considering and as I pointed out the upcoming elections, general elections, is going to be quite complex for widow to especially who's trying to do something that hasn't been done prior ever since the country became a multi-party election democracy in the late 90s and in this case him trying to form his own coalition, his own political bloc and create his own legacy and maybe even a dynasty of himself, it is basically there's a great deal of incentive for him to heed to certain demands that the workers are raising at the time and the fact that the workers are not really going for compromise here is evident by the fact that they will be demonstrating until the general elections in the national capital and that clearly shows that the workers mobilization is very pretty much intended to pressurize the political leadership I'm not just looking at all sorts of political leadership to be sensitive to the workers cost and this is something that will be significant in the upcoming elections because in previous elections we did not see as much focus on workers rights as we might see in the coming months on the other hand we also need to remember that widow is sensitive to certain popular struggles the fact that in recently he admitted to a whole host of crimes that Indonesia had committed during and after the military regime and in a way for and paving way for reparations and reconciliation in some of these crimes actually shows that he did heed to certain progressive demands on the ground by victims of you know government sexes so it is not that he's insensitive but he is definitely calculating at his best so that we have to wait and see how far he will take and accept or even consider these demands but definitely they are there to actually make an impact in the in the current political scenario in Indonesia all right thanks very much Anish 5th 14th if I'm not wrong is when that election will happen the biggest single day electoral sort of process in the world and I'm sure we'll have Anish back on giving us more in depth updates on the political scenario in Indonesia closer to then but meanwhile we'll bring to a close this episode of daily debrief our coverage of events and developments in Gaza as well as based on what is happening in Gaza we'll continue through the week as things as reports come in of course in the meantime we urge you as already to get to our website peoplesdispatch.org and also to not forget to give us a follow on the social media platform of your choice we'll see you same time same place tomorrow but then thank you very much for watching