Benjamin Netanyahu under pressure to end Gaza conflict
A former prime minister, defence minister, and ex-spy chiefs are among 600 retired Israeli officials who've written to US President Donald Trump asking him to push harder for a ceasefire.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Netanyahu didn't elaborate on what he has planned.
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Sydney Morning Herald
19 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Gaza ceasefire hopes revived, as Marles stresses no arms trade with Israel
Gaza Strip/Canberra: Israel's plan for a military takeover of Gaza City continued to draw international condemnation as tens of thousands of Israelis rallied in what local media called one of the largest anti-government protests in recent months, following 22 months of war. Ceasefire efforts appeared to be reviving following Israel's announcement, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff preparing to meet Qatar's prime minister in Spain on Sunday AEST to discuss a new proposal to end the war, according to two officials familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with the media. Mediators Egypt and Qatar were preparing a new ceasefire framework that would include the release of all hostages – dead and alive – in one go, in return for the war's end and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, two Arab officials told The Associated Press. Hostages' families pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government over the weekend amid new fears for the 50 remaining hostages, with 20 of them thought to be alive and struggling. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza, called on Israelis to 'help us save the hostages, the soldiers and the state of Israel'. Loading A joint statement by nine countries, including Australia, Germany, Britain, France and Canada, said they 'strongly reject' Israel's decision for the large-scale military operation, saying it would worsen the 'catastrophic humanitarian situation', endanger hostages and further risk mass displacement. They said any attempts at annexation or settlement in Gaza violated international law. A separate statement by more than 20 countries, including ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar along with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, called Israel's decision a 'dangerous and unacceptable escalation'. Russia said Israel's plan would aggravate the 'already extremely dramatic situation' in Gaza.
The Age
19 minutes ago
- The Age
Gaza ceasefire hopes revived, as Marles stresses no arms trade with Israel
Gaza Strip/Canberra: Israel's plan for a military takeover of Gaza City continued to draw international condemnation as tens of thousands of Israelis rallied in what local media called one of the largest anti-government protests in recent months, following 22 months of war. Ceasefire efforts appeared to be reviving following Israel's announcement, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff preparing to meet Qatar's prime minister in Spain on Sunday AEST to discuss a new proposal to end the war, according to two officials familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with the media. Mediators Egypt and Qatar were preparing a new ceasefire framework that would include the release of all hostages – dead and alive – in one go, in return for the war's end and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, two Arab officials told The Associated Press. Hostages' families pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government over the weekend amid new fears for the 50 remaining hostages, with 20 of them thought to be alive and struggling. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza, called on Israelis to 'help us save the hostages, the soldiers and the state of Israel'. Loading A joint statement by nine countries, including Australia, Germany, Britain, France and Canada, said they 'strongly reject' Israel's decision for the large-scale military operation, saying it would worsen the 'catastrophic humanitarian situation', endanger hostages and further risk mass displacement. They said any attempts at annexation or settlement in Gaza violated international law. A separate statement by more than 20 countries, including ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar along with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, called Israel's decision a 'dangerous and unacceptable escalation'. Russia said Israel's plan would aggravate the 'already extremely dramatic situation' in Gaza.
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Recognising Palestine now only rewards Hamas, the side with clear genocidal intent
Amid the furore of the public debate about the war in Gaza, and whether Australia should now recognise Palestine, it is too often forgotten that recognition of a Palestinian state is the outcome preferred by both sides of politics. Since the first Oslo Accord, which created the Palestinian Authority and set in train the long-since interrupted peace process, the ultimate goal has been to achieve a 'two-state solution'. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since that sunny day in the White House Rose Garden in September 1993 when then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands with PLO Leader Yasser Arafat, under the benign gaze of President Bill Clinton. Today, peace between Israelis and Palestinians is much further away than it seemed then. Nevertheless, the two-state solution remains the objective; the question is not whether Palestinian statehood should be recognised, but when and on what conditions. As with most other democracies, Australia has long taken the view that that should not happen until Israel's right to exist is acknowledged – as it was by the Oslo Accords – and its security credibly assured by the Palestinians. Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, the Palestinian Authority has been unable to give that assurance. The consequences for Israel of Hamas' control of Gaza – against which Israeli leaders long before Benjamin Netanyahu warned – were made horrifyingly clear on October 7, 2023. However critical one might be of Israel's response in the nearly two years of warfare since, nothing can alter what happened that day, and the intent those events revealed: the elimination of the people of Israel. That had always has been the explicit objective of Hamas, declared in its foundational documents. The Nova Music Festival massacre merely made it manifest. Notwithstanding the destruction of Hamas' senior leadership and killing of many of its fighters, its objective remains unchanged. The chilling irony of the debate about the Gaza War – in Australia, as elsewhere – is that those who most volubly condemn Israel for genocide are acting, wittingly or unwittingly, as apologists for Hamas, whose very raison d'etre is genocide. Loading Like 'fascist' before it, 'genocide' has become the go-to word of abuse for the left, a denunciation invoked with such indiscriminate carelessness that it has become unmoored from its true meaning. International law defines 'genocide' in the 1948 Genocide Convention as 'acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical [sic], racial or religious group'. The forcible occupation of territory may be a violation of international law, but it is not genocide. Israel's announcement last week that it intends to deploy armed personnel to secure Gaza City is not a threat of genocide.
