Morning News Bulletin 29 June 2025
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TRANSCRIPT
Israeli Prime Minister rejects report his soldiers are being ordered to shoot aid-seeking Palestinians
Greens say they will back their candidate who suffered serious injuries during a police arrest
Matildas to take on Slovenia for a second game in Perth
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a report that claims Israeli soldiers are being ordered to shoot at Palestinians approaching aid sites inside Gaza. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports Israeli soldiers have deliberately shot at unarmed Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza after being ordered to do so by their commanders. Israel's Prime Minister has rejected the Haaretz findings in a statement, calling them "malicious falsehoods designed to defame" the military. Gazan health officials say more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food aid over the past month since an Israel and US-backed organisation began distributing aid in the territory. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres says this new aid mechanism is killing innocents and Israel must allow the UN to distribute aid independently. "People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families. Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarised zones is inherently unsafe. It's killing people. There is no need to reinvent the wheel with dangerous schemes. We have the supplies. We have the experience. We have the solution." Health officials in Gaza say at least 62 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza in the past 24 hours, as the humanitarian situation worsens in the strip. Mohammed Haboub survived an Israeli airstrike that killed his family in the Tuffah neighbourhood near Jaffa school where hundreds of displaced Gazans take shelter. He says the violence is senseless. "Suddenly they attacked us with missiles, and then we found out that my nephews, my father, the children of the neighbours were killed. We didn't do anything to them , why do they harm us? They are all innocent, we have nothing to do with. We are innocent, we want a solution. We don't want war. Why they are killing our children, our elders?" Meanwhile, Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman says mediators are engaging with Israel and Hamas to build on momentum from this week's ceasefire with Iran and work towards a truce in Gaza. The Greens have come out in support of Hannah Thomas, former candidate for the seat of Grayndler, saying she is a victim of what they've called "gross misuse of police power", after an arrest at a pro-Palestinian protest. The 35-year-old lawyer and activist has undergone surgery after suffering serious facial injuries when police detained her while picketing a business reportedly supplying parts for jets used by the Israeli military. Police say four others were arrested at the protest, including a 24-year-old man who they claim temporarily stole a police body worn camera. Greens MP Sue Higginson and Senator David Shoebridge have issued a statement calling for Police Minister Yasmin Catley to investigate the arrest as a critical incident. Ms Higginson says the party will do what they can to help Ms Thomas. "Hannah will be taking whatever steps are available to her to try to find some justice in the face of this gross misuse of police power, this state violence, this excessive force. We will do whatever we can to assist Hannah." A raft of changes are set to take effect in the new financial year, including a minimum wage rise, an increased super guarantee, and energy bill relief. From July 1, Australian households will receive another $150 in energy bill relief, as will about one million small businesses. The national minimum wage will increase 3.5 per cent, with the lowest-paid workers taking home $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The rate at which superannuation is paid into workers' retirement will increase from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent and expand to working parents who take leave to care for their babies. The NDIS will also see changes this week, with the lowering of the maximum rates providers can charge some NDIS participants, and the removal of establishment fees for participants. In football, new Matildas coach Joe Montemurro is urging his players to be braver with the ball when they attempt to make it two wins against Slovenia in Perth tonight. The Matildas beat Slovenia 3-nil on Thursday night, but it took goals in the dying minutes to Holly McNamara and Hayley Raso to secure the unconvincing win. Montemurro says the recovery of the players is good - and now it is time for them to take their performance to the next level. "It will take a while. It will take a while. Obviously, the more we do it, the more we understand the important pass or the important situation of breaking a line. I am sure they will be a little bit more proactive. It is normal. When you say you want to play possession - and it is a word that is bantered a lot - it is normal that they do the safe things to keep possession. Now we have to be smarter to say okay, we can prepare to go forward and be more proactive and break lines."
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