Thousands gather for anniversary of Srebrenica genocide
Seven newly identified victims of the massacre - including two 19-year-old men - will be laid to rest in a collective funeral at a vast, ever-expanding cemetery near Srebrenica on Friday, next to more than 6000 victims already buried there.
Such funerals are held annually for the victims who are still being unearthed from dozens of mass graves around the town.
July 11, 1995, is the day when the killings started after Bosnian Serb fighters overran the eastern Bosnian enclave in the final months of the interethnic war in the Balkan country.
After taking control of the town that was a protected UN safe zone during the war, Bosnian Serb fighters separated Bosniak Muslim men and boys from their families and brutally executed them in just several days.
The bodies were then dumped in mass graves around Srebrenica, which they later dug up with bulldozers, scattering the remains among other burial sites to hide the evidence of their war crimes.
The UN General Assembly in 2024 adopted a resolution to commemorate the Srebrenica genocide on the July 11 anniversary.
Scores of international officials and dignitaries are expected to attend the commemoration ceremonies and the funeral on Friday.
On the eve of the anniversary, an exhibition was inaugurated displaying personal items belonging to the victims that were found in the mass graves over the years.
The conflict in Bosnia erupted in 1992, when Bosnian Serbs took up arms in a rebellion against the country's independence from the former Yugoslavia and with an aim to create their own state and eventually unite with neighbouring Serbia.
More than 100,000 people were killed and millions displaced before a US-brokered peace agreement was reached in 1995.
Bosnia remains ethnically split while both Bosnian Serbs and neighbouring Serbia refuse to acknowledge that the massacre in Srebrenica was a genocide despite rulings by two UN courts.
Bosnian Serb political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, along with many others, have been convicted and sentenced for genocide.
Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic expressed condolences on X while calling the Srebrenica massacre a "terrible crime".
"We cannot change the past but we must change the future," Vucic said.
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The Advertiser
10 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'Human catastrophe': PM condemns Israel's plan for Gaza
Anthony Albanese is urging his Israeli counterpart to rethink a decision to re-invade and take control of Gaza City "before it is too late". The prime minister joined a chorus of global leaders condemning the plan and warning it would worsen a humanitarian crisis in the devastated enclave. After a meeting in Queenstown on Saturday, Mr Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a joint statement calling on Israel to comply with international law. "Any attempt by Israel to escalate hostilities, including by taking control of Gaza City, would be wrong, risk violating international law, and exacerbate the human catastrophe already unfolding inside the Gaza Strip," they said. "We urge the Israeli government to reconsider before it is too late. "Any proposals for the permanent forced displacement of the Palestinian population must be abandoned." Foreign Minister Penny Wong separately warned the looming military operation risked putting the lives of hostages and civilians in more danger. Senator Wong joined Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to "strongly reject" Israel's decision to launch a large-scale military operation in Gaza. The foreign ministers said the plans would aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians. "We urge the parties and the international community to make all efforts to finally bring this conflict to an end now, through an immediate and permanent ceasefire," they said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went against the advice of his military leaders to declare he intended to take military control of all of Gaza. "We intend to," Mr Netanyahu told Fox News when asked if Israel would take over the entire territory. Israel would eventually hand over the territory to Arab forces, which would govern it, he said. "We don't want to keep it," Mr Netanyahu said. "We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body." The move could displace an estimated one million Palestinians and has sparked international outrage. Germany has suspended arms sales to Israel, concerned the weapons could be used in Gaza and marking a major shift in its foreign policy. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a conservative whose support for Israel was a foundation of his election campaign, said he would not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza "until further notice". The UN secretary general António Guterres described the plan as a "dangerous escalation" and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also urged Israel to reconsider. Going a step further, Amnesty International's secretary general Agnès Callamard described Israel's latest actions as "utterly outrageous and revolting". Ms Callamard called on the international community to suspend arms transfers, adopt targeted sanctions and terminate engagement with Israeli entities rather than "professing empty platitudes and condemnations". "These would merely constitute another smokescreen, while allowing the horrors of Israel's genocide to unfold," she said. The Israeli government is pursuing "total victory" in its war with Hamas, which attacked the nation's south in October 2023, killing approximately 1200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel's retaliatory assaults have killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Some 200 people, almost half of them children, have reportedly died of starvation. The worsening humanitarian situation has driven plans from the UK, France and Canada to call for the recognition of Palestine at a UN meeting in September, pending conditions such as Hamas returning the remaining hostages. Australian government ministers have said the nation's recognition of Palestinian statehood is a matter of "when, not if". Anthony Albanese is urging his Israeli counterpart to rethink a decision to re-invade and take control of Gaza City "before it is too late". The prime minister joined a chorus of global leaders condemning the plan and warning it would worsen a humanitarian crisis in the devastated enclave. After a meeting in Queenstown on Saturday, Mr Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a joint statement calling on Israel to comply with international law. "Any attempt by Israel to escalate hostilities, including by taking control of Gaza City, would be wrong, risk violating international law, and exacerbate the human catastrophe already unfolding inside the Gaza Strip," they said. "We urge the Israeli government to reconsider before it is too late. "Any proposals for the permanent forced displacement of the Palestinian population must be abandoned." Foreign Minister Penny Wong separately warned the looming military operation risked putting the lives of hostages and civilians in more danger. Senator Wong joined Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to "strongly reject" Israel's decision to launch a large-scale military operation in Gaza. The foreign ministers said the plans would aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians. "We urge the parties and the international community to make all efforts to finally bring this conflict to an end now, through an immediate and permanent ceasefire," they said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went against the advice of his military leaders to declare he intended to take military control of all of Gaza. "We intend to," Mr Netanyahu told Fox News when asked if Israel would take over the entire territory. Israel would eventually hand over the territory to Arab forces, which would govern it, he said. "We don't want to keep it," Mr Netanyahu said. "We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body." The move could displace an estimated one million Palestinians and has sparked international outrage. Germany has suspended arms sales to Israel, concerned the weapons could be used in Gaza and marking a major shift in its foreign policy. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a conservative whose support for Israel was a foundation of his election campaign, said he would not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza "until further notice". The UN secretary general António Guterres described the plan as a "dangerous escalation" and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also urged Israel to reconsider. Going a step further, Amnesty International's secretary general Agnès Callamard described Israel's latest actions as "utterly outrageous and revolting". Ms Callamard called on the international community to suspend arms transfers, adopt targeted sanctions and terminate engagement with Israeli entities rather than "professing empty platitudes and condemnations". "These would merely constitute another smokescreen, while allowing the horrors of Israel's genocide to unfold," she said. The Israeli government is pursuing "total victory" in its war with Hamas, which attacked the nation's south in October 2023, killing approximately 1200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel's retaliatory assaults have killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Some 200 people, almost half of them children, have reportedly died of starvation. The worsening humanitarian situation has driven plans from the UK, France and Canada to call for the recognition of Palestine at a UN meeting in September, pending conditions such as Hamas returning the remaining hostages. Australian government ministers have said the nation's recognition of Palestinian statehood is a matter of "when, not if". Anthony Albanese is urging his Israeli counterpart to rethink a decision to re-invade and take control of Gaza City "before it is too late". The prime minister joined a chorus of global leaders condemning the plan and warning it would worsen a humanitarian crisis in the devastated enclave. After a meeting in Queenstown on Saturday, Mr Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a joint statement calling on Israel to comply with international law. "Any attempt by Israel to escalate hostilities, including by taking control of Gaza City, would be wrong, risk violating international law, and exacerbate the human catastrophe already unfolding inside the Gaza Strip," they said. "We urge the Israeli government to reconsider before it is too late. "Any proposals for the permanent forced displacement of the Palestinian population must be abandoned." Foreign Minister Penny Wong separately warned the looming military operation risked putting the lives of hostages and civilians in more danger. Senator Wong joined Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to "strongly reject" Israel's decision to launch a large-scale military operation in Gaza. The foreign ministers said the plans would aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians. "We urge the parties and the international community to make all efforts to finally bring this conflict to an end now, through an immediate and permanent ceasefire," they said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went against the advice of his military leaders to declare he intended to take military control of all of Gaza. "We intend to," Mr Netanyahu told Fox News when asked if Israel would take over the entire territory. Israel would eventually hand over the territory to Arab forces, which would govern it, he said. "We don't want to keep it," Mr Netanyahu said. "We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body." The move could displace an estimated one million Palestinians and has sparked international outrage. Germany has suspended arms sales to Israel, concerned the weapons could be used in Gaza and marking a major shift in its foreign policy. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a conservative whose support for Israel was a foundation of his election campaign, said he would not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza "until further notice". The UN secretary general António Guterres described the plan as a "dangerous escalation" and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also urged Israel to reconsider. Going a step further, Amnesty International's secretary general Agnès Callamard described Israel's latest actions as "utterly outrageous and revolting". Ms Callamard called on the international community to suspend arms transfers, adopt targeted sanctions and terminate engagement with Israeli entities rather than "professing empty platitudes and condemnations". "These would merely constitute another smokescreen, while allowing the horrors of Israel's genocide to unfold," she said. The Israeli government is pursuing "total victory" in its war with Hamas, which attacked the nation's south in October 2023, killing approximately 1200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel's retaliatory assaults have killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Some 200 people, almost half of them children, have reportedly died of starvation. The worsening humanitarian situation has driven plans from the UK, France and Canada to call for the recognition of Palestine at a UN meeting in September, pending conditions such as Hamas returning the remaining hostages. Australian government ministers have said the nation's recognition of Palestinian statehood is a matter of "when, not if". Anthony Albanese is urging his Israeli counterpart to rethink a decision to re-invade and take control of Gaza City "before it is too late". The prime minister joined a chorus of global leaders condemning the plan and warning it would worsen a humanitarian crisis in the devastated enclave. After a meeting in Queenstown on Saturday, Mr Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a joint statement calling on Israel to comply with international law. "Any attempt by Israel to escalate hostilities, including by taking control of Gaza City, would be wrong, risk violating international law, and exacerbate the human catastrophe already unfolding inside the Gaza Strip," they said. "We urge the Israeli government to reconsider before it is too late. "Any proposals for the permanent forced displacement of the Palestinian population must be abandoned." Foreign Minister Penny Wong separately warned the looming military operation risked putting the lives of hostages and civilians in more danger. Senator Wong joined Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to "strongly reject" Israel's decision to launch a large-scale military operation in Gaza. The foreign ministers said the plans would aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians. "We urge the parties and the international community to make all efforts to finally bring this conflict to an end now, through an immediate and permanent ceasefire," they said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went against the advice of his military leaders to declare he intended to take military control of all of Gaza. "We intend to," Mr Netanyahu told Fox News when asked if Israel would take over the entire territory. Israel would eventually hand over the territory to Arab forces, which would govern it, he said. "We don't want to keep it," Mr Netanyahu said. "We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body." The move could displace an estimated one million Palestinians and has sparked international outrage. Germany has suspended arms sales to Israel, concerned the weapons could be used in Gaza and marking a major shift in its foreign policy. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a conservative whose support for Israel was a foundation of his election campaign, said he would not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza "until further notice". The UN secretary general António Guterres described the plan as a "dangerous escalation" and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also urged Israel to reconsider. Going a step further, Amnesty International's secretary general Agnès Callamard described Israel's latest actions as "utterly outrageous and revolting". Ms Callamard called on the international community to suspend arms transfers, adopt targeted sanctions and terminate engagement with Israeli entities rather than "professing empty platitudes and condemnations". "These would merely constitute another smokescreen, while allowing the horrors of Israel's genocide to unfold," she said. The Israeli government is pursuing "total victory" in its war with Hamas, which attacked the nation's south in October 2023, killing approximately 1200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Israel's retaliatory assaults have killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Some 200 people, almost half of them children, have reportedly died of starvation. The worsening humanitarian situation has driven plans from the UK, France and Canada to call for the recognition of Palestine at a UN meeting in September, pending conditions such as Hamas returning the remaining hostages. Australian government ministers have said the nation's recognition of Palestinian statehood is a matter of "when, not if".
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Heba's days are spent thinking about a city on the other side of the world
Two cousins and her aunt are dead, and Heba Kassoua's grandfather's home has been burned to the ground. The 36-year-old Australian citizen lives and works in Parramatta but, over the past month, most of her days have been spent thinking about her family in Sweida, a city in southern Syria. Violence broke out in mid-July, one of the first major surges of conflict since dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December. Clashes had been escalating between armed groups of Syrian Bedouin tribes and the militia representing the local Druze population, a religious minority native to the region, before the interim Syrian government had sent local security forces in and further inflamed the situation. Israel, which has its own Druze minority, launched air strikes on Sweida and Damascus, which it says were in support of the Druze. In addition to the more than 1500 people killed during the violence, about 349 of whom were executed according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the UN estimates more than 190,000 people have been displaced. A fragile ceasefire has mostly held since July 19. Five members of Kassoua's family – all Druze – are among the dead. Her aunt, Ghossen Kassoua, died after spending five days inside her sister's home in a village that came under attack. 'There wasn't anyone who could go out and get her medication [for a heart condition and diabetes],' Kassoua said. 'The doctors were either attending to the injured or couldn't do house calls and her condition got much worse. She ended up passing away while she was still in lockdown. She was dead and they couldn't even bury her until two days after.' More than 300 members of Australia's Druze community have written to the federal government pleading for Australian support for aid in the region. 'We are calling for the government to condemn the sectarian violence publicly and demand an independent investigation. We want humanitarian aid,' Kassoua said.
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Sky News AU
Cosy chat between Albanese, raving anti-Semite Mahmoud Abbas 'validates' the October 7 massacre as a stepping stone to Palestinian statehood
Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong this week implored that 'there will be no Palestine left to recognise' if the world doesn't act now and intervene. But perhaps the Senator for South Australia should ask herself this: what exactly are we recognising and what price will we ultimately pay, especially from the relative safety of the southern hemisphere? Her remark chafed even more when it was revealed that our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese chose, in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge pro-Palestinian march, to ring Holocaust revisionist Mahmoud Abbas for a chat to share his vision for a two-state solution in the region. In the call, Mr Abbas said Australia could help foster peace by formally recognising Palestine, according to the official readout. Our PM, with Ms Wong in tow, is preparing to hand legitimacy to those in Palestine who traffic bloodlust and terror. Not peace. This curious decision demands examination of a time when politicians had spines and held our Western values so very tightly and respected them as precious. Not the era we are experiencing now where Jewish people who have sought refuge in Western democracies, believing they would be safe, now question this safety. Every. Single. Day. Let's take one example, such as when the then British PM Margaret Thatcher warned on November 10, 1980 that the scourge of international terrorism lurks forever in the background. 'There are people exercising power in a few countries and leading political factions in others who seem to be moved by narrow, brutal and irrational impulses,' the Iron Lady told the Lord Mayor's Banquet at London's Guildhall. For background, this annual Banquet is always a lustrous event in the capital's calendar, bristling with the posh and powerful and the weight of the keynote speeches can linger for generations. Which is exactly what happened here. Mrs Thatcher continued: 'Their view of their own self-interest is so blinkered as to leave no space for purely human values, for peaceful negotiation or for economic advancement. 'They are bent on the destruction of the established order and of civilised ways of doing business.' Albanese's fear of being called Islamophobic by inner-city elites comes through loud and clear in his attempt to frame Holocaust revisionist Mahmoud Abbas as a partner in reconciliation rather than the enabler of hate, writes Louise Roberts. Pictures: NewsWire/ Zizi Averill,/AFP Mrs Thatcher ended this part of her speech with the type of succinct footnote that typically skewered her critics: those who trade in terror 'must never be allowed to succeed'. And 45 years later, here we are. A so-called progressive Australian government in 2025, nodding along with the very forces the Iron Lady warned against. But instead of heeding her hard-fought wisdom, our Federal Government prepares to recognise a Palestinian state while Hamas holds hostages, tourniquets the Gaza area and promises to never surrender. It will quite simply validate the October 7, 2023 massacre as a stepping stone to statehood. As President of the State of Palestine, the 89-year-old Mr Abbas is being treated like a partner in reconciliation rather than an enabler of hate. He famously authored a doctoral thesis 'The other side: the secret relationship between Nazism and Zionism' which challenged the number of Jewish victims of the Holocaust as around one million rather than six million, among other claims. Should we accept that our government is more concerned about being branded Islamophobic by urban elites than about standing strong for Western values? Mr Abbas is a 20-year autocrat who shares the same vision, incidentally, that Hamas has always used as cover for its ultimate goal: the eradication of Israel. 'From the river to the sea" is the genocidal chant, echoed by some voices in Sydney to the offices of the Palestinian leadership. And yes, Mr Albanese knows this. Or he should. For a moment, just contrast the pandering to Mr Abbas to how the PM interacts with our actual ally - US President Donald Trump. The well-known historical insults, the spectacle of anti-Trump Kevin Rudd continuing as US Ambassador and Mr Albanese's lacklustre energy on meeting with his American counterpart are alarming in comparison. And when questioned on whether he would consult Trump before deciding on recognition of a Palestinian state, the Prime Minister said: 'We're a sovereign government.' Why not pick up the phone to Mr Trump to discuss the Gaza conflict like he did to Mr Abbas? Mrs Thatcher did not equivocate and understood a fundamental truth that rewarding terrorism with diplomacy is simply to encourage more of it. I wonder what she would say now as countries such as France and Canada 'recognise' a Palestinian state bereft of clear borders and a democracy whilst Australia gets in line to do the same. Louise Roberts is a journalist and editor who has worked as a TV and radio commentator in Australia, the UK and the US. Louise is a winner of the Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist in the NRMA Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism and has been shortlisted in other awards for her opinion work.
