What's happening in Gaza while the world's eyes are on Israel-Iran war?
High-level diplomatic talks on Gaza were due to start on Tuesday, but have been put on hold while hundreds of Palestinians have been killed near aid distribution sites, as tensions between Israel and Iran reach a boiling point. Israeli forces have stepped up their bombardment of Iranian cities. At the same time, Iran has launched its most effective missile barrage yet, breaching Israeli air defences. The rising conflict between the adversaries has been a focus internationally, as world leaders discuss de-escalation at the G7 summit in Canada. Meanwhile, the momentum towards an Israel-Palestinian two-state solution has come undone, with the postponement of a United Nations conference planned to discuss the future of the war-torn region.
France and Saudi Arabia had been set to host the gathering between 17-20 June in New York, aiming to lay out the parameters for a road map to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security. French President Emmanuel Macron is spearheading the push to recognise a Palestinian state and had been set to attend the conference on 18 June. He has previously suggested France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories at the conference, a move opposed by Israel. "This postponement cannot undermine our determination to move forward with the implementation of the two-state solution," Macron said. "Whatever the circumstances, I have stated my determination to recognise the state of Palestine."
United States President Donald Trump's administration sent a diplomatic cable earlier this week to discourage governments around the world from attending the conference, according to a US cable seen by Reuters news agency. It had also warned of possible consequences for those who took measures against Israel, raising pressure on the participants and making Macron's potential decision to recognise a Palestinian state more complicated.
While the UN looks to plan a new conference, it has continued to denounce Israeli-backed aid delivery methods in Gaza. Israeli fire killed at least 50 people on Monday, nearly half of them near an aid distribution site run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Medics said at least 23 of those people were killed and 200 others wounded near an aid distribution site in Rafah, the latest in daily mass shootings that have killed hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food. Israel has put responsibility for distributing much of the aid it allows into Gaza into the hands of the GHF, which operates three sites in areas guarded by Israeli troops.
The UN has rejected the plan, saying GHF aid distribution is inadequate, dangerous, and violates the principles of humanitarian impartiality. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about Monday's reports of shootings. In previous incidents, it has occasionally acknowledged troops opening fire near aid sites, but claimed it opened fire only when "suspects" deviated from a stipulated route to the GHF distribution site. The GHF said in a statement it has distributed more than 3 million meals at its four distribution sites without incident.
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News.com.au
29 minutes ago
- News.com.au
G7 urges Middle East de-escalation as Trump makes hasty summit exit
G7 leaders on Monday called for "de-escalation" in the Middle East starting with the Israel-Iran conflict, as US President Donald Trump hastily left the group's summit. Trump, who was making his return to the international diplomatic calendar, departed the gathering in the Canadian Rockies a day early as ally Israel pounded Iran. After a day of statements backing diplomacy, Trump ominously took to social media to sound a warning to people in the Iranian capital, whose population is nearly 10 million. "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Having earlier hesitated at backing a joint statement on the crisis, Trump relented during a dinner at a forested lodge under the snow-capped mountains in Kananaskis. "We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza," said the joint statement released by Canada. The statement said Israel "has a right to defend itself" and stressed "the importance of the protection of civilians," as the growing attacks kill civilians on both sides. The leaders of the club of industrial democracies -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- stated their conviction that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon." Trump for weeks said he favored diplomacy, and his envoy Steve Witkoff met five times with Iranian envoys, but he quickly backed Israel's strikes and said Tehran's clerical state should have agreed to his terms. At a group photo with fellow G7 leaders before the dinner, Trump said: "I have to be back as soon as I can. I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand, this is big stuff." French President Emmanuel Macron suggested the United States was ready to make a diplomatic overture. "There was an offer made for a meeting and an exchange," Macron told reporters. "If the United States can obtain a ceasefire, it is a very good thing," he added. Soon after his early exit, Trump rebuked his French counterpart, accusing Macron of mischaracterizing the reason for his departure. "Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a 'cease fire' between Israel and Iran," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay tuned!" Before his decision to leave early was announced, Trump had told reporters: "As soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something." He has repeatedly declined to say if the United States would participate in Israeli military action, although he has said Washington was not involved in initial strikes and the White House said US forces remained in a defensive posture. - Onus on Iran - Trump earlier said Iran would be "foolish" not to agree to a negotiated settlement. "It's painful for both parties, but I'd say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it's too late," Trump told reporters as he met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The US president will miss a day of G7 meetings that was expected to include discussions with the leaders of Ukraine and Mexico. Since Friday, Israel has struck major nuclear and military sites and killed leading commanders and nuclear scientists in Iran, which has responded with its own volley of drones and missiles on Israel. Macron voiced objections to what increasingly appeared to be Israel's goal -- toppling the clerical state that took power after the 1979 revolution toppled the pro-Western shah. "All who have thought that by bombing from the outside you can save a country in spite of itself have always been mistaken," he said. Iran, since Trump pulled out of an earlier nuclear deal in 2018, has ramped up uranium enrichment but not yet at levels to create an atomic bomb. Israel is widely known to have nuclear weapons but does not acknowledge them publicly. - Tariff talks - The summit comes after months of tumult on the global stage since Trump's return to the White House. Seeking to shatter a decades-old US-led global economic order, Trump has vowed sweeping tariffs on friends and foes alike although he has postponed implementation until July 9. But Trump voiced optimism about a resolution with Canada and signed documents with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to confirm an agreement with Britain. Trump has previously mocked host Canada, stating that the vast but less populated neighbor should become the 51st US state. But Trump has appeared to show more respect to Canada since Carney, a staid former central banker, took over from the more flamboyant Justin Trudeau in March. Trump had taken office seeking diplomacy both on Iran and Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022. He has since voiced frustration that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not accepted a US proposal for a ceasefire.
News.com.au
29 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Trump says wants 'real end' to Israel-Iran conflict, not ceasefire
US President Donald Trump said he wants a "real end" to the conflict between Israel and Iran, not just a ceasefire, as the arch foes traded fire for a fifth day on Tuesday. The escalating clashes saw Israeli warplanes target military sites in Iran, killing a senior commander and drawing retaliatory missile fire from Iran. Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem shortly after air raid sirens sounded in many parts of Israel following missile launches from Iran, the Israeli military said. The air force was "operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat", the military said. About 20 minutes later, it said people could leave shelters as police reported debris fell in the Tel Aviv area and the fire brigade said it was tackling a blaze in the surrounding area. The Israeli military said it killed senior Iranian commander Ali Shamdani in an overnight strike on a "command centre in the heart of Tehran", just four days after his predecessor, Golam Ali Rashid, was killed in a similar Israeli attack. It also said it targeted multiple missile and drone sites in west Iran, including infrastructure, launchers and storage facilities, with black-and-white footage showing some of them exploding. Despite mounting calls to de-escalate, neither side has backed off from the missile blitz that began Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented aerial campaign targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities. A new wave of Israeli strikes on Tehran -- including a dramatic hit on state television headquarters that the broadcaster said killed three people -- prompted both sides to activate missile defence systems overnight. A cyberattack on Tuesday crippled Sepah Bank, one of Iran's main state-owned banks, the Fars news agency reported. - 'Complete give-up' - Trump said on Tuesday that he wanted a "complete give-up" by Iran in return for peace. "I'm not looking for a ceasefire, we're looking at better than a ceasefire," he told reporters on the plane home after cutting short his attendance at a Group of Seven summit in Canada. Trump again warned Iran against targeting US troops and assets in the Middle East, saying "we'll come down so hard, it'd be gloves off". Trump had earlier issued an extraordinary warning on his Truth Social platform, saying: "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" Trump has repeatedly declined to say if the United States would participate in Israeli military action, although he has said Washington was not involved in initial strikes. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the United States was deploying "additional capabilities" to the Middle East. The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz left Southeast Asia Monday, scrapping a planned Vietnam port call, amid reports it was heading to the region. China accused Trump of "pouring oil" on the conflict. "Making threats and mounting pressure will not help to promote the de-escalation of the situation, but will only intensify and widen the conflict," said foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun. After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched its surprise air campaign last week, saying it aimed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran denies. Iran has responded with multiple missile salvos. The Revolutionary Guards vowed Monday night the attacks would continue "without interruption until dawn". State television said the Tel Aviv headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was among the Guards' targets. - G7 urges de-escalation - The escalation has derailed nuclear talks and stoked fears of broader conflict. At least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then. Netanyahu said Israel was "changing the face of the Middle East, and that can lead to radical changes inside Iran itself". Iran's ISNA news agency quoted a medical official saying all doctors and nurses had their leave cancelled and were ordered to remain at medical centres. International calls for calm have mounted. At the G7 summit, leaders including Trump called Monday for "de-escalation" while stressing Israel had the right to defend itself. "We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza", G7 leaders said in a joint statement that also affirmed "Iran can never have a nuclear weapon". The United States and Iran had engaged in several rounds of indirect talks on Tehran's nuclear programme in recent weeks, but Iran said after the start of Israel's campaign that it would not negotiate while under attack. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that "absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue". "It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy," he wrote on X.
Sky News AU
33 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
‘Major embarrassment': Peta Credlin on PM's ‘abandoned' meeting with Trump
Sky News host Peta Credlin discusses the 'major embarrassment' for the Prime Minister after his much-hyped meeting with Donald Trump was abandoned at the G7. Anthony Albanese's highly anticipated first meeting with Donald Trump has been abruptly cancelled, leaving the Prime Minister no opportunity to speak face-to-face with the US President after missing out on the G7 leaders' dinner. The White House has announced that President Trump will depart the G7 Summit in Canada early due to rising tensions in the Middle East. 'Obviously, having a face-to-face meeting with the Australian prime minister was not a high priority for this president. And that's likely because ever since Trump was re-elected last November, Albanese has not made repairing that relationship a high enough priority at his end,' Ms Credlin said.
