Israeli strikes kill at least 72 people in Gaza as prospects for ceasefire in war improve
Israeli strikes have killed at least 72 people across Gaza overnight and into Saturday, according to Palestinian health workers amid growing hopes for a ceasefire after 21 months of war.
Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi, near the southern city of Khan Younis. Relatives said they were struck while they were sleeping.
"What did these children do to them? What is their fault?" the children's grandmother, Suad Abu Teim, said as others knelt to kiss their bloodied faces and wept. Some placed red flowers in the body bags.
Also among the dead were 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more in apartments, according to staff at Shifa Hospital.
More than 20 bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, according to Gaza health officials.
A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City. Their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital.
Another strike on a gathering in eastern Gaza City killed eight, including five children, the hospital said.
A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two, according to Al-Awda Hospital.
US President Donald Trump said there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week.
Taking questions from reporters on Friday, he said: "We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of."
An official with knowledge of the situation and speaking anonymously told The Associated Press that Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer would arrive in Washington next week for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other subjects.
There have been sporadic indirect talks between Israel and Hamas since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the territory's dire humanitarian crisis.
Some 50 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, less than half of them believed to be alive. They were among 251 people taken hostage when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. The militants also killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
"What more is left to do in Gaza that has not already been done? Who else is left to eliminate?" Yotam Cohen, brother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, said on Saturday evening as weekly rallies by families and supporters resumed following Israel's ceasefire with Iran.
The Israel-Gaza war has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, while displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million and causing a hunger crisis.
It said more than half of the dead were women and children. It said the dead include 6,089 killed since the end of the latest ceasefire.
Israel said it only targeted militants and blamed civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians.
There is hope among families of Israeli hostages that Mr Trump's involvement in securing the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran might lead to more pressure for a deal in Gaza.
Israelis widely supported their prime minister's strikes on Iran, and Benjamin Netanyahu could now feel he has more space to end the war in Gaza, something his far-right governing partners have opposed.
Hamas has repeatedly said it is prepared to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu says he will end the war only once Hamas is disarmed and exiled, something the group has rejected.
Meanwhile, hungry Palestinians are enduring a catastrophic situation in Gaza.
After preventing all food from entering into the territory for two and a half months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies in since mid-May.
More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food since the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid in the territory about a month ago, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on roads heading toward the sites.
The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots and that it is investigating incidents in which civilians have been harmed while approaching the sites.
Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach the sites, moving through Israeli military zones.
Separate efforts by the United Nations to distribute limited food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys.
Saturday's death toll included two people killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting to receive aid near the Netzarim corridor, a road that separates northern and southern Gaza, according to Al-Shifa and Al-Awda hospitals, which each received one body.
There was no immediate Israeli military comment on the incident.
AP
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News.com.au
7 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Make the deal': Donald Trump shifts focus back on Gaza
US President Donald Trump has seemingly returned his focus to the war in Gaza after his role in broking a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Mr Trump had spent most of Sunday, AEST, doing a running commentary on events at the Capitol where the US Senate was debating his 'Big, Beautiful Bill'. Then in a later post on his Truth Social account, made at about 1am Washington DC time, the President urged Israel and Hamas to strike an agreement in its ongoing conflict. 'MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! DJT,' he wrote. Mr Trump, who has closely aligned himself with Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu, was referencing the Israeli hostages taken by militant group Hamas during its October 7, 2023 terror attacks. It is believed 50 hostages remain after Hamas released some of its captives during earlier ceasefire agreements. Israel's war in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to local authorities. Speaking on Friday, US time, Mr Trump said he believed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was 'close'. 'I just spoke to some of the people involved,' he said. 'We think within the next week we're going to get a ceasefire.' Israel's military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for northern Gaza, warning Palestinians in parts of Gaza City and nearby areas of imminent action there. The warning, which comes more than 20 months into the war with Hamas, foreshadowed 'intense force in these areas'. Israeli Defense Force spokesman Avichay Adraee posted to X that 'these military operations will intensify and expand … to destroy the capabilities of the terrorist organisations'. Mr Adraee's post was accompanied by a map of northern Gaza, telling residents to 'evacuate immediately south to Al-Mawasi'. 'Hamas is harming you and bringing disaster upon you,' he wrote. 'Returning to dangerous combat zones poses a threat to your lives.' There has been increasing global criticism over ongoing civilian deaths in the Palestinian territory, with reports of famine and shootings at food aid sites. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed 37 people on Saturday, including at least nine children who died in strikes. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP 35 people were killed in seven Israeli drone and air strikes in various locations, and two others by Israeli fire while waiting for food aid in the Netzarim zone in central Gaza. He said the dead included three children who were killed in an air strike on a home in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. Mr Bassal said at least six more children died in a neighbourhood in the northeast of Gaza City, including some in an air strike near a school where displaced people were sheltering. Israeli news outlet Haaretz this week published a story citing unnamed IDF soldiers who claim they were 'ordered' to open fire at unarmed civilians near aid distribution centres. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Saturday that he was concerned at the '500 people who have lost their life' in similar incidents in recent weeks. He said France 'stands ready, Europe as well, to contribute to the safety of food distribution' in Gaza. The Israeli military has strongly denied allegations made in Haaretz, telling the Times of Israel its soldiers operated 'under difficult conditions against a terrorist enemy that operates from within the civilian population'. 'IDF soldiers receive clear orders to avoid harming innocent civilians, and they act accordingly.' Mr Trump also backed Mr Netanyahu in a Truth Social post on Srurday, local time, saying he was 'not going to stand' for an ongoing corruption case being run against the Israel Prime Minister. An Israeli court on Friday rejected Mr Netanyahu's request to postpone giving testimony in his corruption trial, ruling that he had not provided adequate justification for his request. In one case, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are accused of accepting more than US$260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours. Mr Trump called Mr Netanyahu a 'war hero' and likened the court case to his own legal battles in recent years. 'Importantly, he is right now in the process of negotiating a Deal with Hamas, which will include getting the Hostages back,' he wrote. 'How is it possible that the Prime Minister of Israel can be forced to sit in a Courtroom all day long, over NOTHING (Cigars, Bugs Bunny Doll, etc.). 'It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure.'
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
Antoinette Lattouf's unlawful sacking exposed the power of lobbying on the Australian media
Last weekend, I wrote a piece about the news-gathering model and media literacy. It mentioned how governments, militaries, and lobby groups try to stop the media telling stories, and it wondered if news audiences would like major media outlets to talk about it more: "They might be shocked to learn about the orchestrated bullying that goes on, which is designed to discourage editors and journalists from reporting on certain topics and framing stories in certain ways, even speaking to certain people," the piece said. "Would it improve media literacy if the media wrote about these issues openly and regularly?" Then, three days later, we heard relevant news. On Wednesday, the Federal Cout ruled that the ABC had unlawfully sacked journalist Antoinette Lattouf, in December 2023, for reasons including that she held political opinions opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Justice Darryl Rangiah found external pressure from "pro-Israel lobbyists" had played a role in the ABC's decision. Ms Lattouf had been employed by the ABC on a small five-day contract, as a fill-in summer radio host. But Justice Rangiah found that soon after Ms Lattouf presented her first program that summer, the ABC began to receive complaints from members of the public. "The complaints asserted she had expressed antisemitic views, lacked impartiality and was unsuitable to present any program for the ABC," he wrote. "It became clear that the complaints were an orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to have Ms Lattouf taken off air." For journalism students, it's an important case study. Many of you would have discussed it in class last week. But everyone should read Justice Rangiah's judgement. It details what went on behind the scenes at the ABC when the email campaign against Ms Lattouf began, and how it contributed to a "state of panic" among some senior ABC managers (many of whom have since left the organisation). It also showed how such pressure campaigns work. Not only had pro-Israel lobbyists sent dozens of emails to the ABC calling for Ms Lattouf to be taken off air, but their complaints found their way to News Corp's The Australian newspaper, which then told the ABC it was planning to report on the fact that the ABC had received complaints (which fed the growing panic inside the ABC). That's how the game is played. After the Federal Court's ruling was published on Wednesday, the ABC's new managing director, Hugh Marks, said the ABC had let down its staff and audiences. "Any undue influence or pressure on ABC management or any of its employees must always be guarded against," he said. A large number of articles were also written about the court's ruling. Alan Sunderland, a former editorial director of the ABC, said the public broadcaster had lessons to learn from the saga. "The world these days is filled with those who seek to control, bully and pressure public interest journalism in all its forms," he wrote. "The role of senior managers is to stoutly resist that pressure, and protect journalists from it as much as possible." Paula Kruger, the chief executive of Media Diversity Australia (and a former ABC radio host), made other points. She said news audiences had to trust that news outlets were capable of telling truthful stories, but the impact that that orchestrated pressure campaign had on the ABC had "shaken trust internally and externally". "You break trust with the broader community when an interest group can go to the top of an organisation and get its way. Lobbyists skip the process that everyone else must follow," she wrote. She also raised the topic of media literacy and trust. She said we often talk about ways to improve the public's media literacy, but the decline in trust in the media should not be a problem for audiences to fix; it was the responsibility of news organisations. "Silencing one side of the story isn't success. Shutting down voices isn't 'social cohesion,'" she wrote. "But silencing and shutting down were the preferred responses of senior ABC management under pressure from pro-Israel lobbyists. We need a different approach to our most difficult conversations." That last point is worth thinking about. In last weekend's article, I made a reference to Hannah Arendt's famous 1971 essay on the Pentagon Papers. But she wrote another essay, in 1967, that deserves a reference today. In that earlier essay, Truth and Politics, Arendt famously argued that "objectivity" and "impartiality" were revolutionary concepts that helped to usher in the modern world. In fact, she left her readers with the impression that those concepts were pillars of so-called "western civilisation": "The disinterested pursuit of truth has a long history," she wrote. "I think it can be traced to the moment when Homer chose to sing the deeds of the Trojans no less than those of the Achaeans, and to praise the glory of Hector, the foe and the defeated man, no less than the glory of Achilles, the hero of his kinfolk [...] "Homeric impartiality echoes throughout Greek history, and it inspired the first great teller of factual truth, who became the father of history: Herodotus tells us in the very first sentences of his stories that he set out to prevent 'the great and wondrous deeds of the Greeks and the barbarians from losing their due meed of glory'. "This is the root of all so-called objectivity ... without it no science would ever have come into being." So, according to Arendt's logic, if we allow ourselves to be intimidated into privileging certain voices when reporting on major global conflicts, and silencing other voices, we'll be abandoning a pillar of "western civilisation". And that was the same essay in which Arendt wrote her famous line about the disorienting affect that relentless propaganda can have on the human brain. "It has frequently been noticed that the surest long-term result of brainwashing is a peculiar kind of cynicism — an absolute refusal to believe in the truth of anything, no matter how well this truth may be established," she wrote. "In other words, the result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lies will now be accepted as truth, and the truth be defamed as lies, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world – and the category of truth vs. falsehood is among the mental means to this end – is being destroyed," she said. Arendt said we could try to keep our bearings in the world — and combat such propaganda — by building and protecting "certain public institutions" that revered truth above politics. And she said an independent judiciary, the historical sciences and the humanities, and journalism were among them. But let's wrap things up. It's naive to think "the media" is always and everywhere obsessed with "the truth." There are plenty of players in the media that are motivated by other things. But consider the editors and journalists that really do try to tell the truth. As we discussed last week, there's a global multi-billion-dollar industry dedicated to capturing, controlling, and confusing the "trusted stories" the media tells every day: Different governments, militaries, multi-nationals, and lobby groups are always trying it on. The ABC was involved in a different controversy six years ago when concerns were raised internally about Adani's apparent ability to squash an ABC radio story about the economics of Adani's Carmichael mine. Readers say once they start noticing things like that about the media, it can damage their trust in the media's stories. If you spend any time on social media these days, you may have also noticed how millions of people are now teaching each other about the subtle ways in which media outlets use language and imagery to privilege certain perspectives and diminish others in their daily news reports. The type of critical media analyses you'll get in every journalism and communications degree at university has jumped out of the academy and onto peoples' phones. For example, consider the headlines below and see if you can spot the differences in language: Why is the language in the first headline so passive and vague? Why is the language in the second headline active and precise? Modern audiences are regularly engaging in that kind of media "decoding" in private now, while they're doom-scrolling, so it presents an opportunity for media outlets to start having deeper conversations with their audiences about the way things work, if they choose to. Those conversations could be uncomfortable for some. But they may lead to more truthful storytelling.
Sydney Morning Herald
12 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
How does the Lattouf judgment affect employees' freedom of speech?
Those hoping the Federal Court's findings in the Antoinette Lattouf case will go some way to answering a question surrounding the rights of workers to express their political opinion ‒ and the rights of employers to prevent them ‒ will probably be disappointed. Lattouf's case was mounted on the basis that her employment contract was unlawfully terminated, in breach of section 772 of the Fair Work Act, due to her expression of her political opinion, or, alternatively, her race and political opinion. A secondary but related issue was that the ABC breached the staff enterprise agreement. The ABC relied on the defence that it had terminated Lattouf's employment for reasons that did not include her political opinion, race or national extraction but because of her failure to follow a direction from her producer not to post anything about the Israel-Gaza war and because she had contravened the ABC's 'Personal use of social media - Guidelines'. The court found in Lattouf's favour, noting that Lattouf had not been given a direction, but simply general guidance. It also found that the ABC was ultimately unable to identify any breaches of the social media guidelines or editorial guidelines or policies. The decision is helpful in highlighting that employers are in general able to issue directions to employees about publicly expressing their views. The judgment refers to the established right of employers to issue 'lawful and reasonable' directions. It also suggests that these directions must be made clearly and, ideally, rely on established and accessible policies. Loading Doing so enables employers to point to a specific employee breach if they wish to take disciplinary action. If they can't, then they leave themselves open, as did the ABC, to accusations of discrimination under provisions such as section 772. The decision is helpful, but not groundbreaking, leaving one big question unanswered: the one we are still asking after a series of messy disputes ‒ think Folau, Khawaja, Gillham to name some recent examples. That is, how far can employers go in attempting to control employees' 'freedom of speech'? In the Lattouf case, the Federal Court was not required to make any finding on this. It was required only to consider whether a direction was issued or a policy in place, not when the making of such directions or policies itself impinges on an individual's freedom of political expression. In thinking about this question, we must consider the delicate balance between employers' rights to protect their reputation and their obligation to maintain a safe workplace and employees' rights to self-expression. Where is the line that can't be crossed? And what are the institutional protections that might come into play in deciding where to draw that line?
