International pressure mounts on Israel
Andy Park: International pressure continues to mount on Israel with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer describing the situation in Gaza as intolerable. Israel has conducted a blockade of Gaza for the past 11 weeks but has now agreed to allow what it's termed a basic amount of food to enter. Aid groups however say more food is desperately needed. The United Nations Humanitarian Agency is warning that 14,000 babies in Gaza are suffering from malnutrition and need urgent supplies of baby formula as Rachel Mealey reports.
Rachel Mealey: It's been two days since Israel partially lifted its blockade of Gaza but these Palestinian people say there's still no sign of the aid that's been allowed in.
Gazan: Our situation is very very difficult and nothing is coming in. There's no flour in any of the houses or inside any of the camps. People don't have flour. I don't know what to do. We want peace. Enough of the war. It's enough. Two years we've been in war and death.
Gazan: Today children will sleep without dinner or with just one meal. They drink salty water. Can you see? This is the real famine that the Palestinian people are now experiencing and no one is paying attention.
Rachel Mealey: Yousra Abu Sherekh is a project manager for Inara, an aid agency in Gaza. She says she hasn't seen evidence the supplies have arrived and expects they'll be a tiny fraction of what's needed.
Yousra Abu Sherekh: Nine trucks after more than 11 weeks of blockade, complete blockade and starvation, they are like a drop in an ocean. People here in Gaza are in need for everything now. Not only the food but they are in need for cooking gas. They are in need for fuel for transportation. They are in need for every single shelter items.
Rachel Mealey: Yousra Abu Sherekh says even with a job she's struggling to feed her own two sons.
Yousra Abu Sherekh: The fear of hunger, the thinking of what and how you will feed your children is way worse and overwhelming than any other fears during this war and during this blockade especially. So this feeling is very heartbreaking.
Rachel Mealey: While the crisis plays out Israel's threats to escalate the war in Gaza continue. Some of Israel's allies are now turning critics. Earlier in the week Britain, France and Canada issued a joint statement calling any escalation disproportionate and egregious. Overnight the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivered his strongest rebuke yet.
Keir Starmer: But first Mr Speaker I'd like to say something about the horrific situation in Gaza where the level of suffering, innocent children being bombed again is utterly intolerable. And I want to put on record today that we're horrified by the escalation from Israel. The recent announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza, a basic quantity, is totally and utterly inadequate. So we must coordinate our response because this war has gone on for far too long. We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve.
Rachel Mealey: The UK and the EU have suspended trade talks with Israel in light of its actions in Gaza. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on social media that Britain, France and Canada were handing a huge prize to Hamas. He accused them of encouraging a repeat of the October 7th attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people with 250 Israelis taken as hostages. US President Donald Trump has remained uncharacteristically silent on the developments. His Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about reports that the US has been working behind the scenes to relocate Palestinians to neighbouring countries while the conflict plays out.
Marco Rubio: No there's no deportation. What we have talked to some nations about is if someone voluntarily and willingly says I want to go somewhere else for some period of time because I'm sick, because my children need to go to school or what have you, are there countries in the region willing to accept them for some period of time but those will be voluntary decisions by individuals.
Andy Park: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ending that report by Rachel Mealey.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
12 hours ago
- ABC News
UN nuclear watchdog finds Iran in breach of non-proliferation obligations for first time in 20 years
The United Nations nuclear watchdog has declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations on Thursday, for the first time in almost 20 years. The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) findings could lead to further tensions and set in motion an effort to restore United Nations sanctions on Tehran later this year. Since Iran bristles at resolutions against it and this is the most significant one in years, it is likely to respond with a nuclear escalation, as it has said it will. That could complicate the current talks between Iran and the US aimed at imposing new curbs on Iran's accelerating atomic activities. The resolution also comes at a time of particularly heightened tension, with the US withdrawing staff from the Middle East. US President Donald Trump has warned the region could become dangerous, saying Washington would not let Iran have nuclear weapons. Diplomats at the closed-door meeting said the board passed the resolution submitted by the US, Britain, France, and Germany with 19 countries in favour, 11 abstentions, and three states — Russia, China, and Burkina Faso — against. "The board of governors … finds that Iran's many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran … constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with the agency," the draft resolution said. The draft resolution also said the IAEA's "inability … to provide assurance that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful gives rise to questions that are within the competence of the United Nations Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security." Iran has announced countermeasures to the IAEA's resolution, state TV said on Thursday, including the opening of a new enrichment site and upgrading of centrifuges in the Fordow nuclear facility. Tehran also condemned the solution, describing it as a "political" decision without technical or legal foundations. The US and Iran have been holding talks on Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. Oman's foreign minister said earlier on Thursday that a sixth round of negotiations would be held in his country on Sunday. The IAEA flagged that Iran had amassed more near-weapons-grade uranium in its May 31 confidential report. The report sternly warned Iran was now "the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material" — something the agency said was of "serious concern". US intelligence services and the IAEA have long believed Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons programme it halted in 2003, though isolated experiments continued for several years. IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi said this week the findings were broadly consistent with that. Iran denies ever having pursued nuclear weapons. While the resolution alluded to reporting Iran to the UN Security Council, diplomats said it would take a second resolution to send it there, as happened the last time it was declared in non-compliance in September 2005, followed by referral in February 2006. Reuters/AP
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- News.com.au
Oman to host US-Iran nuclear talks on Sunday
Oman said Thursday it would host a sixth round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran over the weekend, amid escalating tensions between the long-time foes and reports of an imminent Israeli attack on Iran. Despite reporting progress in earlier rounds, Tehran and Washington have sharply disagreed over Iran's uranium enrichment in recent weeks, with Tehran threatening to target US military bases in the region in the event that the talks fail and conflict erupts. Tensions reached a fever pitch this week as Washington ordered the evacuation of personnel from the Middle East and US media reported that Israel appeared to be preparing an attack on Iran. Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi nonetheless confirmed in a post on X on Thursday that the "6th round of Iran US talks will be held in Muscat this Sunday". Iran meanwhile vowed to build a new uranium enrichment facility and "increase signficantly" its production after the UN nuclear watchdog passed a resolution condemning Tehran's "non-compliance". The United States and Iran have held five rounds of talks since April to hammer out a new nuclear deal, replacing a 2015 accord that President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in office. Trump appeared to shift his previously optimistic tone this week, saying he was "less confident" a deal could be reached, and on Wednesday ordered US personnel to be moved from the potentially "dangerous" Middle East. - 'Suffer more losses' - Israel has repeatedly warned that it could attack Iranian nuclear sites, vowing to stop its arch foe from acquiring an atomic bomb, which Tehran has consistently denied it was seeking. The US president says he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off from striking Iran's nuclear facilities to give the talks a chance, but has increasingly signalled that he is losing patience. Iran however warned it would respond to any attack. "All its (US) bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries," Iran's Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail. "God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed," the minister said, adding that the US side "will suffer more losses" if it came to conflict. A US official had earlier said that staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while there were reports that personnel were also being moved from Kuwait and Bahrain. An Iraqi security official said it was "not complete evacuation" and the US was taking precautionary measures in case of the failure of talks. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Manama said the mission "has not changed its staffing posture and remains fully operational". - 'Strategic mistake' - The latest developments come amid a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, which Tehran has defended as a "non-negotiable" right while Washington has called it a "red line". Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in major state policies, has recently said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear programme and that the United States "cannot have a say" on the issue. On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received "elements" of a US proposal for a nuclear deal, with Araghchi later saying the text contained "ambiguities". Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. On Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors adopted a resolution drafted by the US, Britain, France and Germany, condemning Iran's "non-compliance" with its nuclear obligations. In response, Iran's foreign ministry and atomic agency said orders had been issued "to launch a new enrichment centre in a secure location". The agency added that uranium enrichment would "increase significantly". The resolution could lay the groundwork for European countries to invoke the "snapback" mechanism under the 2015 nuclear deal, reinstating UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance -- an option that expires in October.
The Advertiser
15 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Israeli minister sanctions dubbed too little, too late
The sanctioning of two Israeli ministers by Australia has been labelled a "slap on the wrist" by a prominent pro-Palestine advocate. The federal government has imposed sanctions on Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a co-ordinated move with Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. The sanctions were applied for "extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", with the pair barred from travelling to Australia and any assets in the country being frozen. The measures prompted condemnation from the US, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying it would do little to achieve a ceasefire in the conflict. Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni welcomed the move but said it was too little, too late. "These sanctions are crumbs, tossed by the Australian government 613 days too late," he said. "This is a small step, but Australia must stop pretending that a slap on the wrist for two fascist ministers is justice." Mr Mashni said further sanctions, similar to measures imposed against Russian officials for the country's invasion of Ukraine, need to be applied. "Australians of good conscience demand real action. That means a full array of sanctions," he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has doubled down on the need for the sanctions, despite blowback from Israel and the US. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the government has overstepped its bounds. "It is unprecedented to, as a government, take actions, sanctions on members of a democratically elected government," she told Sky News on Thursday. "The US has explained that these actions are actually counterproductive to securing that ceasefire and that peace, and the government should be paying attention to that." Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, says the style of sanctions imposed by the government was normally reserved for human rights abusers and terrorists. "The big question here is whether this is a new standard that will be applied to the public comments of officials from other countries," he told ABC Radio. "If this is the new standard, it will have serious implications for our international relations.". Middle East politics professor at Deakin University Shahram Akbarzadeh said the sanctions were a consequential step. "It is significant and it sends a signal that Australia is becoming more resolute in pursuing its foreign policy agenda of a two-state solution," he told AAP. "Australia would not have done this on its own, but when Australia sees other allied countries taking this move, that allows Australia to feel comfortable in numbers." Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the sanctions were concerning and unacceptable. "These ministers are part of a government that operates under the principle of collective responsibility, making such measures unreasonable," he said in a statement. "The Israeli government will convene early next week to consider and determine our official response to these actions." Prof Akbarzadeh said the sanctions imposed by the Western allies would not alter how Israel would conduct itself in the conflict. "Israel has shown it does not take international opinion seriously, and this move is unlikely to deter the Israeli government in the way they're prosecuting the war in Gaza," he said. The latest eruption of war in Gaza was sparked by militant group Hamas killing about 1200 people and abducting 250 others in Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel's military response has since killed almost 55,000 mostly civilian Palestinians in Gaza, local health authorities say. Australia in July also sanctioned Israelis involved in attacking and killing Palestinians in the West Bank. Australia has listed Hamas as a terrorist entity since 2001, according to the federal government's national security website. The sanctioning of two Israeli ministers by Australia has been labelled a "slap on the wrist" by a prominent pro-Palestine advocate. The federal government has imposed sanctions on Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a co-ordinated move with Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. The sanctions were applied for "extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", with the pair barred from travelling to Australia and any assets in the country being frozen. The measures prompted condemnation from the US, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying it would do little to achieve a ceasefire in the conflict. Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni welcomed the move but said it was too little, too late. "These sanctions are crumbs, tossed by the Australian government 613 days too late," he said. "This is a small step, but Australia must stop pretending that a slap on the wrist for two fascist ministers is justice." Mr Mashni said further sanctions, similar to measures imposed against Russian officials for the country's invasion of Ukraine, need to be applied. "Australians of good conscience demand real action. That means a full array of sanctions," he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has doubled down on the need for the sanctions, despite blowback from Israel and the US. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the government has overstepped its bounds. "It is unprecedented to, as a government, take actions, sanctions on members of a democratically elected government," she told Sky News on Thursday. "The US has explained that these actions are actually counterproductive to securing that ceasefire and that peace, and the government should be paying attention to that." Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, says the style of sanctions imposed by the government was normally reserved for human rights abusers and terrorists. "The big question here is whether this is a new standard that will be applied to the public comments of officials from other countries," he told ABC Radio. "If this is the new standard, it will have serious implications for our international relations.". Middle East politics professor at Deakin University Shahram Akbarzadeh said the sanctions were a consequential step. "It is significant and it sends a signal that Australia is becoming more resolute in pursuing its foreign policy agenda of a two-state solution," he told AAP. "Australia would not have done this on its own, but when Australia sees other allied countries taking this move, that allows Australia to feel comfortable in numbers." Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the sanctions were concerning and unacceptable. "These ministers are part of a government that operates under the principle of collective responsibility, making such measures unreasonable," he said in a statement. "The Israeli government will convene early next week to consider and determine our official response to these actions." Prof Akbarzadeh said the sanctions imposed by the Western allies would not alter how Israel would conduct itself in the conflict. "Israel has shown it does not take international opinion seriously, and this move is unlikely to deter the Israeli government in the way they're prosecuting the war in Gaza," he said. The latest eruption of war in Gaza was sparked by militant group Hamas killing about 1200 people and abducting 250 others in Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel's military response has since killed almost 55,000 mostly civilian Palestinians in Gaza, local health authorities say. Australia in July also sanctioned Israelis involved in attacking and killing Palestinians in the West Bank. Australia has listed Hamas as a terrorist entity since 2001, according to the federal government's national security website. The sanctioning of two Israeli ministers by Australia has been labelled a "slap on the wrist" by a prominent pro-Palestine advocate. The federal government has imposed sanctions on Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a co-ordinated move with Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. The sanctions were applied for "extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", with the pair barred from travelling to Australia and any assets in the country being frozen. The measures prompted condemnation from the US, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying it would do little to achieve a ceasefire in the conflict. Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni welcomed the move but said it was too little, too late. "These sanctions are crumbs, tossed by the Australian government 613 days too late," he said. "This is a small step, but Australia must stop pretending that a slap on the wrist for two fascist ministers is justice." Mr Mashni said further sanctions, similar to measures imposed against Russian officials for the country's invasion of Ukraine, need to be applied. "Australians of good conscience demand real action. That means a full array of sanctions," he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has doubled down on the need for the sanctions, despite blowback from Israel and the US. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the government has overstepped its bounds. "It is unprecedented to, as a government, take actions, sanctions on members of a democratically elected government," she told Sky News on Thursday. "The US has explained that these actions are actually counterproductive to securing that ceasefire and that peace, and the government should be paying attention to that." Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, says the style of sanctions imposed by the government was normally reserved for human rights abusers and terrorists. "The big question here is whether this is a new standard that will be applied to the public comments of officials from other countries," he told ABC Radio. "If this is the new standard, it will have serious implications for our international relations.". Middle East politics professor at Deakin University Shahram Akbarzadeh said the sanctions were a consequential step. "It is significant and it sends a signal that Australia is becoming more resolute in pursuing its foreign policy agenda of a two-state solution," he told AAP. "Australia would not have done this on its own, but when Australia sees other allied countries taking this move, that allows Australia to feel comfortable in numbers." Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the sanctions were concerning and unacceptable. "These ministers are part of a government that operates under the principle of collective responsibility, making such measures unreasonable," he said in a statement. "The Israeli government will convene early next week to consider and determine our official response to these actions." Prof Akbarzadeh said the sanctions imposed by the Western allies would not alter how Israel would conduct itself in the conflict. "Israel has shown it does not take international opinion seriously, and this move is unlikely to deter the Israeli government in the way they're prosecuting the war in Gaza," he said. The latest eruption of war in Gaza was sparked by militant group Hamas killing about 1200 people and abducting 250 others in Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel's military response has since killed almost 55,000 mostly civilian Palestinians in Gaza, local health authorities say. Australia in July also sanctioned Israelis involved in attacking and killing Palestinians in the West Bank. Australia has listed Hamas as a terrorist entity since 2001, according to the federal government's national security website. The sanctioning of two Israeli ministers by Australia has been labelled a "slap on the wrist" by a prominent pro-Palestine advocate. The federal government has imposed sanctions on Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a co-ordinated move with Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. The sanctions were applied for "extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", with the pair barred from travelling to Australia and any assets in the country being frozen. The measures prompted condemnation from the US, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying it would do little to achieve a ceasefire in the conflict. Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni welcomed the move but said it was too little, too late. "These sanctions are crumbs, tossed by the Australian government 613 days too late," he said. "This is a small step, but Australia must stop pretending that a slap on the wrist for two fascist ministers is justice." Mr Mashni said further sanctions, similar to measures imposed against Russian officials for the country's invasion of Ukraine, need to be applied. "Australians of good conscience demand real action. That means a full array of sanctions," he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has doubled down on the need for the sanctions, despite blowback from Israel and the US. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the government has overstepped its bounds. "It is unprecedented to, as a government, take actions, sanctions on members of a democratically elected government," she told Sky News on Thursday. "The US has explained that these actions are actually counterproductive to securing that ceasefire and that peace, and the government should be paying attention to that." Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, says the style of sanctions imposed by the government was normally reserved for human rights abusers and terrorists. "The big question here is whether this is a new standard that will be applied to the public comments of officials from other countries," he told ABC Radio. "If this is the new standard, it will have serious implications for our international relations.". Middle East politics professor at Deakin University Shahram Akbarzadeh said the sanctions were a consequential step. "It is significant and it sends a signal that Australia is becoming more resolute in pursuing its foreign policy agenda of a two-state solution," he told AAP. "Australia would not have done this on its own, but when Australia sees other allied countries taking this move, that allows Australia to feel comfortable in numbers." Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the sanctions were concerning and unacceptable. "These ministers are part of a government that operates under the principle of collective responsibility, making such measures unreasonable," he said in a statement. "The Israeli government will convene early next week to consider and determine our official response to these actions." Prof Akbarzadeh said the sanctions imposed by the Western allies would not alter how Israel would conduct itself in the conflict. "Israel has shown it does not take international opinion seriously, and this move is unlikely to deter the Israeli government in the way they're prosecuting the war in Gaza," he said. The latest eruption of war in Gaza was sparked by militant group Hamas killing about 1200 people and abducting 250 others in Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel's military response has since killed almost 55,000 mostly civilian Palestinians in Gaza, local health authorities say. Australia in July also sanctioned Israelis involved in attacking and killing Palestinians in the West Bank. Australia has listed Hamas as a terrorist entity since 2001, according to the federal government's national security website.
