Remembering Tasmanian Aboriginal resistance fighters
Photo shows North Gaza without aid: child sits on a pile of aid boxes, holding up a jar of food, surrounded by other children and people
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ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Another attack at aid station in Gaza
Isabella Higgins: A third major shooting attack near a southern Gaza aid distribution point in as many days is fueling deep despair amongst the Palestinian community. At least 27 were killed in the latest attacks and hundreds more reported injured in what Palestinian authorities allege is another instance of Israeli troops firing upon civilians. The Israel Defense Forces says it's investigating but is questioning the number of people injured after conceding firing warning shots in the early hours of Tuesday morning. From Jerusalem, here's Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran. Matthew Doran: In a makeshift hospital ward inside a tent at southern Gaza's Nasser Hospital, 22-year-old Motaz Alfarati is among dozens lying in beds and on the floor, bandaged and bloodied after a deadly early morning attack. Motaz Alfarati: In one moment we heard the noise of Apache helicopters. They were throwing around grenades around us and on the asphalt and anyone who doesn't stand and who moved was shot at by a sniper in his head, in his leg, in his stomach. Matthew Doran: Palestinian authorities allege Israeli forces opened fire on the thousands trying to access an aid distribution point near Rafa. Motaz was there and says many travelled for hours to arrive at the site. Motaz Alfarati: There were thousands and thousands who came to the area in order to take aid boxes. But there is not enough. Matthew Doran: The International Red Cross says more than 180 people were rushed to its field hospital in Rafa. Israel says it's investigating the incident. It's different rhetoric to what the government and the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday after the first attack near the site, rejecting allegations it was responsible for more than 30 being killed and dozens more injured. David Mencer: Israel is not preventing Gazans from accessing humanitarian aid and the IDF did not fire at civilians in or near aid distribution zone. Matthew Doran: David Mencer is the Israeli Government's spokesperson. David Mencer: The warning shots were fired away from the aid distribution point in response to the threat perceived by the IDF troops. Matthew Doran: Israeli authorities accuse Hamas of undermining the new private aid model in Gaza, fuelling chaos in the strip near the handful of distribution sites. The IDF and politicians continue to refer to video they claim shows armed gunmen targeting civilians, despite the vision being recorded kilometres away from the aid facility. Jeremy Laurence: Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable. Matthew Doran: Jeremy Laurence is the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson. Jeremy Laurence: The wilful impediment of access to food and other life-sustaining relief supplies for civilians may constitute a war crime. Matthew Doran: For its part, the organisation running the aid sites, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, says food is being distributed without incident, millions of meals handed to Palestinians in recent days. But it's wrapping that insistence in a significant caveat, that it has no control over what happens outside the fence lines of its facilities, which is where these attacks have happened. This is Matthew Doran in Jerusalem, reporting for AM.
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
US suggests interim plan on Iran nuclear deal
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is proposing an interim plan that would allow Iran to enrich uranium at low levels. The New York Times reports that this interim plan would be in place while a broader arrangement is worked out, aimed at blocking the country's path to a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, Iran's President says Tehran will not bow to US pressure to dismantle its nuclear program.
ABC News
7 hours ago
- ABC News
Labor's freedom in numbers is a double-edged sword on Gaza and Israel
In politics, it's not always those who sit opposite that you need to worry about. It's also those who sit behind you. As the Albanese government prepares to return to Parliament next month, it will sit across from a demoralised Coalition, which has spent the past couple of weeks breaking up and making up with all the drama of a high school couple. But perhaps posing more of a problem for Labor is a politician scorned. Dumped cabinet minister Ed Husic blamed Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles for his removal from cabinet, calling him a "factional assassin". But assassins are paid to kill and Husic's still kicking. The long-serving Labor MP wasted no time in saying the way power was wielded would repel people from the party, declaring former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus — a fellow victim of factional fighting — was denied dignity in the process. In dumping Husic from the ministry, the party has also liberated him from the shackles of cabinet solidarity that have seen him tread more carefully when speaking about the war in Gaza. No longer. Husic has been highly critical of the government for not doing enough to condemn Israel for withholding aid from Gaza. He said Australia "can and should be doing more" — from calling in the Israeli ambassador, to ramping up its contribution to the international humanitarian effort and imposing sanctions on Israel, beyond what's already been imposed on settlers in the West Bank. And while he noted Australia had signed a statement alongside several countries calling for the reinstatement of aid, he questioned why the government didn't "proudly" join the UK, Canada and France, saying they would take concrete actions if Israel didn't cease its renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid. There is also pressure within Labor's grassroots membership for the government to impose sanctions on Israeli individuals and groups, while former foreign ministers Gareth Evans and Bob Carr have also endorsed sanctions. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously said Australia is not a major player in the Middle East. But the impact of the war in Gaza is being felt acutely by people in Australia. Incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen, and Australians have also watched in horror as family members have been displaced or killed in the conflict. In trying to hold the middle ground on the Middle East, the government has often found itself disappointing all sides at home - those in support of Israel and those with anti-Zionist views, who feel let down by the government. And while Labor had a sweeping election victory, if you look under the hood of the results in western Sydney seats like Blaxland and Watson — where there are high concentrations of Arab-Australians — Labor's primary vote was down. Free from the constraints of an election campaign — and as images of burned, maimed and starving children, some crying and some simply too weak to — continue to be broadcast on people's screens, Albanese has toughened his rhetoric. Trying to allay the concerns of international allies, Israel has argued it would let a "basic amount of food" in for the Palestinian population. But Albanese said it was "outrageous" Israel was blocking food and supplies to people in need, while shrugging off calls for sanctions, saying the government would follow its own path. Australia will attend a United Nations-backed summit in New York this month, although at this stage it hasn't landed on who will go. The federal government's prevailing narrative is that Australia no longer sees recognition of a Palestinian state as occurring at the end of negotiations — but rather as a way of building momentum in the peace process. However, Labor has also been adamant there can be no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state. Until the party lands on its next moves, they will have people within pushing for more to be done. As the prime minister fends off criticism from those now sitting much further back on the benches, the Greens have also had a blow from within. Having lost three seats in the lower house at the last election — including that of former leader Adam Bandt — it's now also lost a Senate seat. But this time, it had nothing to do with the voting public. Greens senator Dorinda Cox has defected to sit with the Labor party, saying her values align more closely with them. It's a curious statement, given just days ago she criticised Labor's approval of Woodside's expansion of the North West Shelf gas project out to 2070. But the senator had run unsuccessfully for the Greens deputy leadership in the wake of the election, and was facing the prospect of losing the number one spot on the Greens' WA senate ticket. Like many relationship break-ups, this split comes with baggage. Labor is taking on a senator who has also been accused of bullying a number of office staff, allegations she has denied and criticised as "missing context". But in turn the party gains a senator and punishes a party which the prime minister has declared has "lost their way." The last parliament saw numerous defections: Liberals and Nationals quit to sit as independents. Lidia Thorpe quit the Greens over the Voice, and Fatima Payman resigned from the Labor party over the party's position on the Gaza conflict. When Payman quit the party to sit as an independent, the prime minister suggested she should end her six-year term — "gifted" under Labor — and recontest the next federal election as an independent. However, presented with the opportunity to gain a number rather than lose one, Anthony Albanese said Cox would serve out the remainder of her term with Labor, noting she will have to be pre-selected through ALP processes to run for the next election. Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has described the Senate as a "political merry-go-round". And especially given the election was mere weeks ago — it begs the question: is it democratic for politicians, having been elected as a member of one party, to leave for another? There's currently no federal legislation in Australia that specifically addresses defections — only deaths and resignations — and experts have suggested punishing defectors could raise constitutional issues, and reduce stability and accountability in the Parliament. So while defections frustrate the public, they're a feature of the Australian parliament that isn't likely to go away. With an additional number in their ranks, the change is undoubtedly a morale boost for Labor, but practically it doesn't change the composition of the upper house dramatically. Labor still needs the Greens or the Coalition to pass legislation there, although this shift means that if the pair want to join forces to block government legislation, they'll need another number from the crossbench. Albanese will enter the first parliamentary sitting of the new government with calls to use his increased majority in the House to tackle more ambitious agenda items. Before the election, most in Labor were willing to swallow their concerns because of fears disunity would mean political death. But in the wake of a victory few saw coming, the enormous majority also comes with a downside for the PM. It means there are now more backbenchers to get on board, and more Labor MPs who could speak out if Albanese isn't able to land on a position everyone in the backbench is satisfied with.
