UN urges Israel to drop West Bank settlement plan
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
7 hours ago
- News.com.au
Israelis rally nationwide calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal
Demonstrators took to the streets across Israel Sunday calling for an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to release hostages still held by militants, as the military prepares a new offensive. The protests come more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory. The war was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, during which 251 people were taken hostage. Forty-nine captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. A huge Israeli flag covered with portraits of the remaining captives was unfurled in Tel Aviv's so-called Hostage Square -- which has long been a focal point for protests throughout the war. Demonstrators also blocked roads, including the highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where they set tires on fire and caused traffic jams, according to local media footage. Israeli police beefed up forces, saying no "public order disturbances" would be tolerated, later announcing 32 protesters arrested. Protest organisers and the main campaign group representing the families of hostages also called for a general strike on Sunday -- the first day of the week in Israel. In Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv, many businesses were shut. "I think it's time to end the war. It's time to release all of the hostages. And it's time to help Israel recover and move towards a more stable Middle East," said Doron Wilfand, a 54-year-old tour guide, at a rally in Jerusalem. - 'Shut down the country' - The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group said in a statement that protesters would "shut down the country today (Sunday) with one clear call: Bring back the 50 hostages, end the war". Their toll includes a soldier killed in a 2014 war whose remains are held by Hamas. Recent videos released by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad showing two weak and emaciated captives have heightened concern for the fate of the hostages. "If we don't bring them back now -– we will lose them forever," the forum said. Egypt said in recent days mediators were leading a renewed push to secure a 60-day truce that would include hostage release, after the last round of talks in Qatar had ended without a breakthrough. Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza, said in a post on X addressing him: "I hope... you will see how the people of Israel pause life today for you and for the hostages. Stay strong, just a little more." Some Israeli government members who oppose any deal with Hamas slammed Sunday's demonstrations. Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decried "a perverse and harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas" and calls for "surrender". Culture Minister Miki Zohar, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, said on X that blocking roads and disrupting daily life was "a reward to the enemy". Benny Gantz, an opposition leader, condemned the government "attacking the families of the hostages" while "bearing responsibility for the captivity of their children by Hamas for nearly two years". - Famine warnings - AFPTV footage showed protesters at a rally in Beeri, a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was one of the hardest-hit communities in the Hamas attack, and Israeli media reported protests in numerous locations across the country. The Israeli plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition. Israel's Army Radio reported on Sunday that military chief Eyal Zamir was due to review the "plans to conquer Gaza City" in a meeting later in the day. According to the report, residents would be evacuated before troops encircle the city and finally seize it, beginning "in the coming weeks". Tens of thousands of reserve soldiers would be called up for the mission, the report added. Israel on Saturday said it was preparing "to move the population from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their protection". UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire on Sunday killed at least seven Palestinians waiting to collect food aid near two sites. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,897 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.
ABC News
9 hours ago
- ABC News
Israel says it targeted power station used by Houthis near Yemeni capital
The Israeli military says it struck an energy infrastructure site that was used by the Iran-aligned Houthis south of the Yemeni capital on Sunday. The military said in a statement that the targeted attack was in response to repeated attacks by the Houthis against Israel. Israeli media reported earlier that the attack on the Haziz power station near Sanaa was carried out by the Israeli navy. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said the power station was hit by an "aggression", knocking some of its generators out of service. It did not indicate the source of the attack. Teams were able to contain a resulting fire, Al Masirah reported, citing the deputy prime minister. There were no immediate reports of casualties. At least two explosions were heard earlier in the capital, residents said. Israel has been bombing Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on Israel. The Yemeni group has been firing missiles towards Israel, most of which have been intercepted, in what they describe as support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza. The United States and the UK have also previously launched attacks against the Houthis in Yemen. In May, the US announced a surprise deal with the Houthis where it agreed to stop a bombing campaign against them in return for an end to the group's attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, though the Houthis said the deal did not include sparing Israel. Reuters
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- News.com.au
Developers push for new city at North Arm Cove north of Sydney
Like some Mayan mystery, a fully designed city lies hidden in the Australian bushland just two hours north of Sydney and it could soon become the country's newest settlement. Located in present-day North Arm Cove, just north of Newcastle in the Hunter Valley, the city includes a complex web of housing lots with plans for train and port terminals and administrative buildings. For years, it lay dormant as a 'paper subdivision', meaning it has been legally divided into lots but has never been physically developed with roads or power infrastructure. But that is now changing and a recent rezoning decision means the lost city could soon rise up out of the bush. 'It's going to be developed, it's just a question of how,' Desim Arch architect Dejan Simovic told NewsWire this week. 'It's part of the northern suburbs of Newcastle, so sooner or later … it's definitely going to be developed.' Mr Simovic and his wife Tatjana Djuric-Simovic are pushing for 'sustainable' development at North Arm Cove and hope to fulfil a vision for the city outlined by legendary Canberra architect Walter Burley Griffin a century ago. Mr Griffin sketched out the city, which he called Port Stephens City, on 'garden city' principles, typified by expanding concentric rings of development all connected via train. 'You can see that really clearly in the Port Stephens city design,' urban planning guru Sam Austin told NewsWire. 'It has a very central rail terminal and then you can see a concentric circle design that extends out of it.' The Simovics worry about 'western Sydney' style development engulfing the area and propose instead a 'circular economy' city that is self-reliant at a local level. 'It will be local, precinct based,' Mr Simovic said. 'We're going to have our own treatment plant for water and then generating electricity and data and for the roads. 'It's all based on a circular economy, all based on locals using and reusing water and power and recycling the waste. 'That's the basic principle. We would like to be the first circular city or town in Australia.' There are powerful reasons, however, why the city has remained bushland scrub for decades. The area sits within the Mid-Coast Council local government area and the council has long argued development at North Arm Cove would be 'prohibitively expensive' given the lack of any road, power or drainage infrastructure. The council pushed for the area to be rezoned to 'environmental management', which would have stopped any development. But in 2024, the state government instructed the council to rezone it into 'environmental living', which has cracked open the door to new building. 'Council has always rejected the notion they could rezone this land because there are too many constraints and the cost was too high,' North Arm Cove Ratepayers Association president David Buxton told NewsWire. 'But all of that seems to have changed in the past five years, for a number of things.' Mr Buxton said NSW's sharpening housing shortages had in part prompted the state government's rezoning push. The new local environment plan is expected to come into effect later this year. There are about 4000 lots at North Arm Cove, with about 1000 of them owned by the council. There were now 'two entities' eager to build out the area, Mr Buxton added. Those are Desim and a property developer called Alathan. Alathan has lodged a 'scoping proposal' with the council outlining how the company sees the future of the area. 'They (Alathan) are going down the investigative path, they are getting feedback,' Mr Buxton said. 'In my way of thinking, they are committed, they are willing to spend the money, as long as they don't get ridiculous hurdles put in front of them.' The next phase is a development control plan, which is a detailed document that outlines building dimensions, form and scale. Mr Buxton estimates the cost to produce a plan to be in the range of $5m to $10m. Mr Simovic said he would apply for federal government grant funding to finance his DEP. Building out infrastructure for the new city would likely cost north of $1bn, Mr Simovic said. 'We already have interest from infrastructure companies to fund doing the infrastructure and then later managing it and repayments through loans and other things,' Mr Simovic said. 'We have all of that structure set up, the question now is just who is going to fund preparation plans. 'That's where we expect support from the government, just to get the grant from the federal government.' But there are huge challenges in getting the city up. Aside from the cost of the infrastructure build-out, any development plan needs majority approval from landholders. Mr Austin, meanwhile, has expressed caution about building brand new cities. 'I much prefer to see urban consolidation or development around existing settlements, particularly given there is very strong ecological value in that area,' he said. 'I do have some reservations on broad scale development in essentially pristine bushland, which is what it is.'
