Israel lashes out as Labor eyes Palestine recognition
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Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘Tweedledee and Tweedledum': Albanese and Wong are ‘putting stress' on Australia-US alliance
Sky News host Steve Price discusses Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong's 'slack-jawed' approach to Palestinian recognition and how this move has put stress on the Australia-US alliance. 'I am referring to the slack-jawed way our leader has decided to reward the terror group Hamas with the decision to recognise a Palestinian state with a visit to the UN,' Mr Price said. 'One can only wonder at the tone of the phone calls between other left-leaning leaders like France's Macron and the UK's Starmer in the lead-up to this. 'So, here we have Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Albo and Wong, courting votes from the Harbour Bridge march … and the Greens putting stress on the US alliance to support a fanciful notion that no one … in the Middle East thinks is ever going to happen.'
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
Hezbollah warns disarmament plan could spark civil war
Hezbollah has raised the spectre of civil war with a warning there will be "no life" in Lebanon if the government seeks to confront or eliminate the Iran-backed group. The government wants to control arms in line with a US-backed plan following Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah, which was founded four decades ago with the backing of Tehran's Revolutionary Guards. But the group is resisting pressure to disarm, saying that cannot happen until Israel ends its strikes and occupation of a southern strip of Lebanon that had been a Hezbollah stronghold. "This is our nation together. We live in dignity together, and we build its sovereignty together - or Lebanon will have no life if you stand on the other side and try to confront us and eliminate us," its leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech on Friday. Israel has dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in the past two years, killing many of its top brass including former leader Hassan Nasrallah and 5000 of its fighters, and destroying much of its arsenal. The Lebanese cabinet last week tasked the army with confining weapons only to state security forces, a move that has outraged Hezbollah. Qassem accused the government of implementing an "American-Israeli order to eliminate the resistance, even if that leads to civil war and internal strife". However, he said Hezbollah and the Amal movement, its Shi'ite Muslim ally, had decided to delay any street protests while there was still scope for talks. "There is still room for discussion, for adjustments, and for a political resolution before the situation escalates to a confrontation no one wants," Qassem said. "But if it is imposed on us, we are ready, and we have no other choice ... At that point, there will be a protest in the street, all across Lebanon, that will reach the American embassy." The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which left parts of Lebanon in ruins, erupted in October 2023 when the group opened fire at Israeli positions along the southern border in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza war. Hezbollah and Amal still retain influence politically, appointing Shi'ite ministers to cabinet and holding the Shi'ite seats in parliament. But for the first time in years, they do not hold a "blocking third" of cabinet, enabling them to veto government decisions in the past. Hezbollah retains strong support among the Shi'ite community in Lebanon, but calls for its disarmament across the rest of society have grown.
Sky News AU
4 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Australians warned to ‘wake up' as Albanese's Labor government drifts further from US after Palestine recognition decision
Australians have been warned to 'wake up' over the impact the Albanese government's decision to recognise Palestine is having on the US relationship. The decision has sparked a war of words between the Albanese government and the Trump administration, with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee blasting Australia over the decision to recognise the state of Palestine, revealing there was a sentiment of 'disgust' inside the Trump administration over the move. 'I think the timing has been very hurtful to any prospects of negotiating some settlement in Gaza with Hamas. They basically walked away. This is a gift to them, and it's unfortunate,' Mr Huckabee told ABC's 7.30 programme. "There's an enormous level of disappointment and some disgust.' Speaking to Sky News on Friday, former Labor MP Michael Danby said Australia was being led by 'not a normal Labor government'. 'We have a socialist left government … This is not a normal Labour government and they have abandoned our usual procedures,' he told Sky News host Rowan Dean. 'Wong said that she only called Rubio in a perfunctory way the night before they made an announcement. 'How would you not consult the Americans who are actually involved in negotiations for ceasefire, who have all of those forces over there, and consult the French?' Mr Danby said it was a 'ridiculous basis' to decide Australia's foreign policy and warned Australians of a 'fundamental shift'. The former Labor MP said Mr Albanese, Ms Wong, and the rest of the Labor Caucus were 'fundamentally shifting', which the Americans 'sense' was a shift away from a friendly 'pro-US stance' to a 'pro-China worldview'. 'Australians should wake up. This is not a matter of just Israel. This is a fundamental shift in Australian foreign policy, and it's absolutely unjustified,' he said. Responding to the US diplomat's comments on Friday morning, the Prime Minister said Mr Huckabee was an 'ambassador of a country, not Australia, to another country. Not Australia, Israel'. 'My job is to represent Australia's interests and Australians have been disgusted by what they see on their TV every night,' Mr Albanese told ABC Radio Melbourne radio.
