Australia to recognise Palestinian state
Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister, confirmed the decision on Monday as he called a two-state solution 'humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East'.
'Australia was the first country to raise its hand at the United Nations in support of Resolution 181, to create the State of Israel – and a Palestinian state,' Mr Albanese said.
'More than 77 years later, the world can no longer wait for the implementation of that Resolution to be negotiated between the parties.'
He said the decision had been made after his government received commitments from the Palestinian Authority (PA) to demilitarise, hold general elections, cease prisoner payments, reform schooling and continue to recognise Israel's right to exist.
The decision was immediately denounced by conservative Jewish community groups, with the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) calling it a declaration from the left-wing Labor government 'that rape and murder will be rewarded'.
'As a gift to Hamas for October 7, Labor has launched another attack on Israel,' the AJA said in an Instagram post.
'They damage our national security and risk the lives of Australians.
'No Australian government will steal the Jewish people's homeland. They can declare that the sky is pink for all we care. There has never been a state of Palestine and there never will be.'
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The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘It was horrific': Witnesses tell how Israeli missiles tore through journalists' tent in Gaza City
Sheltering in tents on the grounds of the Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City, the Al-Jazeera journalists had just bid each other good night. Another day of reporting on the violence, starvation and brutality in their besieged homeland had ground to an end. Fifteen minutes later, Israeli missiles tore through the sky and eviscerated the tent. Anas al-Sharif, 28, one of the news channel's most prominent voices in Gaza, was killed alongside reporter Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. A sixth journalist, a freelance, was killed nearby. Sharif had been intentionally targeted by the Israelis, who accused him of being the head of a Hamas terror cell but offered no credible evidence to back up their claim. There was no explanation for the killing of the other men alongside him. Saed, a Palestinian journalist staying in a nearby tent on the same site, was thrown to the ground by the deafening explosion when the strike hit. 'I lost consciousness,' he told The Independent. 'Suddenly, my eyes went back to the area, and I saw that the journalists' tent had been targeted.' Amer, 31, also in the same compound, came rushing out. He described seeing one journalist, injured in the legs and back, screaming for help. Sharif – who had faced numerous death threats in the run-up to the strike – was lying dead on the ground behind him. His colleague Mohammed Qreiqeh was alive, just about, but on fire. Those around him scrambled to try to extinguish the flames, Amer continued. 'One man was killed while sitting in a chair, and another was killed inside the journalist tent next to us. It was horrific,' he added, visibly shaken. Shrapnel had sprayed the journalist syndicate tent, killing a sixth journalist who did not work for Al Jazeera, as well as a passer-by. 'These journalists were the voice and the image of our suffering here in Gaza – and now they have become the subject of the stories they were covering,' Amer said. 'Anas expected that he would be targeted at any moment. He accepted the possibility, based on the threats against him. He was reporting to the world what was happening, conveying the images and the massacres being committed in the Gaza Strip. There was no place for him to hide.' Sharif had prepared for his death. A lengthy and heartbreaking statement posted to his X (Twitter) account after he was killed read: 'This is my last will and testament. If these words of mine reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.' The message concluded: 'Do not forget Gaza... And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.' Shortly before he was killed, he posted that there was 'non-stop bombing' in the area. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warned last month that it was gravely concerned for Sharif's safety as he was being 'targeted by an Israeli military smear campaign', and said that the unfounded accusations 'represented an effort to manufacture consent to kill al-Sharif'. Sara Qudah, the group's director for the Middle East and north Africa, said two weeks ago that the level of danger to al-Sharif's life was 'now acute'. A UN expert previously warned that Sharif's life was in danger because of his reporting from Gaza, while special rapporteur Irene Khan said last month that Israel's claims against Sharif were unsubstantiated. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming Sharif was a Hamas militant who was responsible for coordinating rocket attacks. Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive of the CPJ, said the organisation had yet to see 'any credible evidence' to back Israel's allegations against Sharif. 'They've been making this claim for many, many months, most recently in the last couple of weeks following a report that Anas did on starvation in Gaza, in which he cried on air,' Ms Ginsberg said. 'We've asked for evidence repeatedly from Israel.' The journalists' deaths were roundly condemned across the world, with Sir Keir Starmer 's spokesperson saying the prime minister was 'gravely concerned by the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza'. They added: 'Reporters covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law, and journalists must be able to report independently, without fear, and Israel must ensure journalists can carry out their work safely.' Al Jazeera Media Network condemned what it called the 'targeted assassination' of Sharif, and said he and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza providing the world with 'unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people'. Omar Shakir, from Human Rights Watch, added: 'The brazen targeted killing of Palestinian journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammad Qreiqeh, along with four other media workers, highlights the unimaginable peril Palestinian journalists in Gaza face, and the Israeli military's complete disregard for civilian life. 'As Israel continues to impose a ban on journalists entering Gaza, Palestinian journalists play an indispensable role in documenting and reporting Israel's ongoing extermination of Palestinians. 'Rather than killing voices reporting on its atrocities in Gaza, Israel should stop committing them.'
Telegraph
3 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Gary Lineker and Mo Salah's ‘we can't hear you' hypocrisy is plain to see
'We can't hear you, Uefa,' wrote Gary Lineker, outraged that European football's governing body had not acknowledged the alleged circumstances of the death of Suleiman al-Obeid, aka the 'Palestinian Pele'. According to the Palestine Football Association (PFA), the 41-year-old was killed while waiting for humanitarian aid last week in the south of the Gaza Strip. Of all the subjects on which to claim a conspiracy of silence, this was surely not Lineker 's wisest choice. After all, when 1,195 Israelis were slaughtered by Hamas on October 7, 2023, nobody could hear him either. On the occasion of the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the one sally on social media by the self-appointed moral conscience of the game was the observation: 'Super Spurs are top of the league.' Almost two years on, his suggestion that Uefa is under some urgent imperative to tell the world about what happened to Al-Obeid feels at best naive, at worst cynical in its inconsistency. Strictly speaking, there was no need for anybody in Nyon to address the issue publicly, given Palestine's affiliation to the Asian confederation, outside Uefa's jurisdiction. But Aleksander Ceferin, pathologically averse to anything that could be construed as political, still offered a lavish tribute, reflecting in a statement attributed to the president: 'His talent and dedication gave the children of Gaza and beyond hope in a brighter tomorrow.' In stark contrast, the murder at the Nova music festival of Lior Asulin, a striker who played at the highest level in his home country for Hapoel Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem, passed entirely without Uefa comment 22 months ago, despite Israel falling within its orbit. Asulin even competed in its own competition, turning out six times in 2007 for Hapoel in the Uefa Cup. But for 674 days the details of his death – he was killed by Hamas terrorists at a rave where he had been celebrating his 43rd birthday – have gone wholly unremarked by Ceferin, or indeed by Lineker. In fairness, Lineker is far from the only influential figure imploring Uefa to broadcast the Palestinian narrative around how Al-Obeid died. Mohamed Salah also took the organisation to task, replying to the 'Palestinian Pele' message: 'Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?' That intervention was swiftly amplified by Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who refused to condemn Hamas in the aftermath of October 7. 'Well done Mo!' he said. While there is no doubting the sincerity of Salah's sentiments, his contributions have followed the Lineker playbook in terms of only conveying one side of the story. In a rare non-sponsored video message, released just 11 days after the Hamas atrocities, he did not mention Israel once, instead focusing only on the escalating Israeli response and a call to open a humanitarian corridor into Gaza. There is a sense that Salah's anger on this front would be better directed against his own government in Egypt, rather than an avowedly apolitical body like Uefa. Egypt has adopted a hardline opposition to allowing vulnerable Palestinians to cross the Rafah border crossing into Sinai, denying them a temporary safe haven on the grounds that Israel might never permit them to go back. Mohamed Farid, an Egyptian senator, has argued that the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza would merely fuel support for Hamas's extremist ideology and exacerbate tensions throughout the region. Surely Salah, well-intentioned though he might be, would be better advised to engage with this school of thought in his homeland, rather than to play to the gallery online. Sadly, it is only performative antics that cut through in his sphere. Take Lineker's recent comment, addressing the sharing of an anti-Semitic rat emoji that hastened his exit from the BBC, that he was 'anti-the killing of children'. It read as another appeal for secular sainthood, another reminder that he was on the side of the angels. 'I come from a place of complete impartiality,' he declared. If only. Sadly, the problem with his pieties is that they have been filtered through a distinct ideological prism. He is the radicalised product of social networks, seeing fit to peddle the sophomoric propaganda of Owen Jones as if it were inscribed on tablets of stone. He is interested in truth only as far as it corresponds with his preconceived version of truth. This is why the pressure on Uefa to give more specifics about Al-Obeid feels so opportunistic. For a start, we will perhaps never know the definitive version of his death: where the PFA has said he was killed by Israel while waiting at an aid distribution point, the Israel Defence Forces have denied this, with spokesman Nadav Shoshani telling Salah: 'We found no records of any incidents. In order to take a closer look, we need more details.' From the vantage point of Lineker et al, Uefa's selective testimony on Al-Obeid is cast as a damning indictment ofindifference to the Palestinians' suffering. But you cannot be taken seriously as a paragon of virtue if your application of morality is so one-sided that you fail to address an Israeli footballer's murder, or even the massacre of Jews that precipitated this entire conflagration. That is not altruism, it is activism.
Sky News
14 minutes ago
- Sky News
Funeral held for five Al Jazeera journalists killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
A funeral was held for five Al Jazeera journalists who were targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Sunday night, as the UN said the killings were a "grave breach of international law". Correspondents Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa, and their assistant Mohammed Noufal, died after a strike on a tent near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The Israeli military defended the attack, claiming the most prominent of the group, Sharif, was the head of a Hamas terrorist cell and only "posed as a journalist" - claims consistently denied by Sharif himself, Al Jazeera and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). A sixth journalist - a freelancer called Mohammad al Khaldi - was also killed in the strike, medics at the Al Shifa Hospital told Reuters. Al Jazeera called the killing of its journalists a "targeted assassination" and described its employees as some of the "last remaining voices within Gaza". "Al Jazeera Media Network condemns in the strongest terms the targeted assassination of its correspondents... by the Israeli occupation forces in yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom," the broadcaster said. "This attack comes amid the catastrophic consequences of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza, which has seen the relentless slaughter of civilians, forced starvation, and the obliteration of entire communities. "The order to assassinate Anas Al-Sharif, one of Gaza's bravest journalists, and his colleagues, is a desperate attempt to silence the voices exposing the impending seizure and occupation of Gaza." The United Nations (UN) secretary-general condemned the killing of the five journalists and called for it to be investigated. A spokesperson said in a media briefing: "These latest killings highlight the extreme risks that journalists continue to face when covering this ongoing conflict. "The secretary-general calls for an independent, impartial investigation into these latest killings." He added that "at least" 242 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began. The UN's human rights office condemned the killings earlier on Monday, labelling the strike by Israel a "grave breach of international humanitarian law". The war began on 7 October in 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed 1,200 people, taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli numbers. Of the 50 hostages still in Gaza, Israeli authorities say 20 are still alive. Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza. It comes as prominent journalists across media organisations continue to join calls for access to Gaza, which Israel has forbidden throughout the war. On Sunday, Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour said Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should let the UN Security Council into Gaza.
