David Seymour, Winston Peters distance themselves from Christopher Luxon's Benjamin Netanyahu ‘lost the plot' remarks
Seymour, Luxon's Deputy Prime Minister, told the Herald it's 'better just to keep your thoughts to yourself' when
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NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
‘Catastrophic': People flee neighbourhoods after plan to conquer Gaza City approved
The situation in Gaza City has been described as "catastrophic", with large numbers of Palestinians fleeing east. Photo / Bashar Taleb, AFP One resident, Anis Daloul, 64, said the Israeli military had 'destroyed most of the buildings in Zeitoun and displaced thousands of people'. Israel's security cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the plan to conquer Gaza City in early August, sparking fears it would worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu has not yet called a security cabinet meeting to discuss any response to the latest truce proposal. His office said in a statement Wednesday that the premier 'has directed that the timetables for seizing control of the last terrorist strongholds and the defeat of Hamas be shortened', without indicating a specific timeframe. Permanent war Netanyahu has come under growing pressure at home and abroad to end the war, with the German government saying that it 'rejects the escalation' of Israel's campaign. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure to end the war but has yet to publicly comment on the truce plan. Photo / Getty Images French President Emmanuel Macron said the offensive 'can only lead to a complete disaster for both peoples', warning it would 'drag the region into a permanent war'. Katz's approval of plans to conquer Gaza City came days after Hamas said it had accepted the latest proposal from mediators for a ceasefire to halt almost two years of devastating war. Sources from Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad told AFP that the proposal envisages the release of 10 hostages and 18 bodies from Gaza. The remaining captives would be released in a second exchange within the 60-day period, during which negotiations for a permanent ceasefire would take place, the sources said. Israel and Hamas have held on-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas' October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Qatar, one of the mediators in the talks, said the latest proposal was 'almost identical' to an earlier version agreed by Israel. Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the truce plan, but said last week that his country would accept 'an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war'. Gradual operation An Israeli military official told journalists this week that the new phase of combat would involve 'a gradual precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City', including some areas where forces had not previously operated. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes and fire killed at least 25 people across the territory on Wednesday. When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military asked for coordinates and specific timeframes to comment on the reports, but said it would look into reports of eight people killed by Israeli fire near an aid site in the centre of Gaza. Israeli military official confirms 'a gradual precise and targeted' approach in and around Gaza City. Photo / Bashar Taleb, AFP Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military. The Israeli military said it killed 10 Hamas militants in southern Gaza on Wednesday while repelling an attack by the armed wing of the Islamist group, which claimed it killed several Israeli soldiers. Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed at least 62,122 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable. In the West Bank, Israel on Wednesday approved a major settlement project in an area that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority swiftly condemned the approval 'in the strongest terms', saying it entrenched division in the territory. -Agence France-Presse
NZ Herald
2 hours ago
- NZ Herald
US ramps up attack on international court over Israel
The United States on Wednesday defiantly expanded efforts to hobble the International Criminal Court over its prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sanctioning a judge from ally France. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also targeted a Canadian judge in a separate case in his latest volley of sanctions against
Scoop
6 hours ago
- Scoop
Future of Right to Repair Bill uncertain as NZ First pulls support
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson says she's not giving up on her bill that would give consumers the right to get goods repaired. The Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill would compel manufacturers to make repair parts available locally to consumers to extend the lifetime of products and reduce waste. The legislation was sent to Select Committee after passing its first reading in February with support from Labour, the Greens, Te Pāti Maori and New Zealand First. It appeared to have enough support to progress into law, but the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee has now recommended, by majority, that the bill not be passed. What the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill proposes: Retain requirements for manufacturers to make repair facilities, parts, software, tools, and information available to consumers. Allow consumers to request that goods be repaired, rather than replaced. Prevent the use of unauthorised repairers and parts from voiding manufacturers' guarantees. Davidson told RNZ New Zealand First appeared to have pulled its support for the legislation. "The reason we got it through first reading is because we had [support from] all of the opposition parties, plus New Zealand First, so we were able to get it to Select Committee, which was fantastic. "We heard from submitters, oral submissions, written submissions, overwhelming support for the bill. At the end of the select committee process, the bill was reported back, and, at least at this stage, the New Zealand First members have voted against progressing the bill." She said she would not give up on the bill, especially when she had adopted changes, like narrowing the goods covered to above $100 in value, at the suggestion of government members. "It's a little rough to have done all that deep work to make the bill better but the positive is we have now got incredible improvements that we know government members were in support of because they helped us make them. "So there is massive mandate there for the public to have what they've asked for, which is the right to repair their own goods. " New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said his party had changed its mind because of the bill's "unworkability and cost". "We said we'd vote it to Select Committee. We get to the Select Committee, we find it's unworkable. Now that's a sound way of proceeding with politics and with policies." Peters was asked about the concessionary changes Davidson had made to the bill at the request of government ministers. "Marama Davidson wouldn't know how to build a dog house. Excuse me, I've been a lawyer and acted for thousands of house buyers. I know their costs." 'Serious concerns' about process raised in Select Committee report The committee's report on the Right To Repair Bill notes opposition parties had "serious concerns" about the way the committee had conducted its work on the bill. "Opposition members participated in this work in the reasonable expectation that such engagement was aimed at building genuine cross-party agreement," the report said. "The result was otherwise. The committee spent significant time, and drew on the resources of Parliamentary Counsel and departmental advisors, to explore and draft changes to resolve the concerns of government members that they then ultimately chose not to support," the report states. "That decision is of course within their rights. But when extensive collaborative work is undertaken with the tacit implication that it might secure support, only for that support to be withheld, the effect is to undermine trust between members. "It also risks the perception that the process was used to keep the committee occupied rather than to improve the bill, at a cost to the public purse." The decision comes as the government rolls back a series of waste-reduction measures. The container-return scheme has been scrapped, plastic bans pared back, and product stewardship rules delayed. In December 2024, the government quietly cancelled several waste minimisation initiatives focused on recycling and kerbside food scraps composting. Four out of five planned policies will no longer go ahead, including mandatory kerbside composting and recycling for all urban areas. A planned national Circular Economy & Bioeconomy Strategy was also put on hold. Professor at the University of Auckland and a member of the Right to Repair Coalition Alex Sims told Checkpoint there would be no difference to everyday consumers because nothing had changed. "It was a bit of a long shot that it would actually get through. "It just means New Zealand is increasing out of step with the rest of the world because right to repair is, you know, in Europe, the UK and a lot of states in America as well." She said the bill needed to be narrowed down to have worked. "The bill was going to protect everything, so just anything that you normally buy for your house, even things that just couldn't be repaired, and that was just seen as being to wide." Sims said we were not the first country to create a bill like this and that these situations had played out overseas. "It's not a case that the consumers want it and the manufactures don't, sure it may require a bit of a change in business model but... [at the moment] it's an incredible waste of resources." She hoped the country could look into what had already been done to make a change.
