‘Pressure Hamas to take the ceasefire': Hamas accused of ‘hijacking' aid from Palestinians
'It's important this war ends permanently, and it can only end permanently if Hamas is removed from power or the next war will be a matter of time,' Mr Levy told Sky News host James Macpherson.
'Hamas must be defeated in this war because Hamas can never be left free to launch another war again.
'If you want this war to end, you need to lay the blame … at the feet of the terrorist organisation that started this war.'
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Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Ex-top security official Mike Pezzullo warns Australia must brace for potential conflict with China within two years as AUKUS planning intensifies
Australia must prepare for the real possibility of war with China within the next two years, former Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo has warned, calling the chances of conflict in the Indo-Pacific region a '10 to 20 per cent' risk. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sky News Australia, Pezzullo laid out a sobering assessment of Australia's strategic position, saying the country's current three-pronged approach to foreign policy - balancing trade with China, security ties with the US, and regional independence - is a 'calculated risk' that may not hold. 'I think the government's approach is to take a calculated risk that two of those tracks won't collide,' he told Sky News. 'So, you can keep trading with China, you can gain prosperity, and you can keep your security relationship with the Americans going. As long as those two tracks don't collide, I think there is balance in our policy approach. 'But the problem is, as we've often talked about, it's fine until it's not.' According to Pezzullo, the so-called 'collision' between trade and security policy could unfold in two main ways. 'I think they collide in one of two ways,' he said. 'One way is if that planning and that preparation for collective defence irritates China or draws a negative response. 'And the other way, obviously, is if there's a preparatory phase in a crisis leading to a potential conflict, which is, I think, in the realm of a 10 to 20 per cent chance over the next few years.' This comes following the news that over 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, the largest-ever joint military drills held across Australia, focusing on multi-domain operations including land, sea, air, space, and cyber warfare. Exercise Talisman Sabre is conducted across a number of locations across Australia and offshore, using both Defence and non-Defence training areas. These locations provide a realistic rehearsal of how a large military force would flow into a broad area of operations. Pezzullo's comments come amid an ongoing AUKUS review and rising scrutiny of Australia's submarine programme and broader defence planning. He pointed to the US Defence Department's increasing focus on contingency planning and strategic alignment as a sign that Washington is preparing for a scenario where diplomacy fails. 'If that doesn't work and it comes to a clash, we need to have done the preparatory work, the collective security work, the contingency planning to get ready for. If you like - Plan B,' he said. 'The main way in which you deter conflict is to convince the other party that if it comes to a fight, you will prevail.' Pezzullo argued the current US-led AUKUS review is 'very targeted, very deliberate' and not the routine policy reassessment that some in government have claimed. In his most direct remarks, Pezzullo warned that President Xi Jinping's long-stated goal of 'reunifying' Taiwan with mainland China remains the central driver of potential conflict. 'I think we just have to take President Xi at his word. He's determined. The reunification of Taiwan back into China is his number one strategic priority,' he said. 'It is a hangover from what he considers to be the century of humiliation, when China was humiliated by imperial powers, and Taiwan, one way or another, is coming back.' Pezzullo outlined scenarios that could escalate into open conflict, ranging from political coercion to a blockade or even a full-scale invasion. But the true test, he said, will be how the United States responds. 'Will America fight?' he asked. 'Now, if America doesn't fight and Taiwan is reclaimed through an invasion, a broader Pacific war is then avoided.' But that uncertainty, particularly under the second Trump administration, leaves Australia in a precarious position. 'That's actually the most important question in Australian foreign and strategic policy at the moment; what would the Americans do?' Pezzullo said. 'Not because we're going to follow them blindly, we'll make our own choices, but that is the big variable. We know what President Xi is likely to do. What we need to know is what is President Trump and his administration likely to do.'
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘No alternative': Emmanuel Macron announces France will formally recognise a Palestinian state
Emmanuel Macron has announced France will formally recognise a Palestinian state at an upcoming United Nations General Assembly – a major split from the Group of 7 nations as global patience runs thin over the crisis in Gaza. In a post on X, the French President said he intended to 'make the solemn announcement' at the meeting in September, noting that 'there is no alternative'. 'True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine,' Mr Macron wrote. 'The urgency today is to end the war in Gaza and to provide aid to the civilian population. Peace is possible. 'There must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. It is also necessary to ensure the demilitarisation of Hamas, secure and rebuild Gaza. Finally, it is essential to build the State of Palestine, ensure its viability, and enable it, by accepting its demilitarisation and fully recognising Israel, to contribute to the security of all in the Middle East. 'There is no alternative. The French people want peace in the Middle East. It is up to us, the French, together with the Israelis, the Palestinians, and our European and international partners, to demonstrate that it is possible.' Mr Macron said he had affirmed the decision in a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The announcement drew immediate condemnation from Israeli leaders. In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that 'such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza has become'. 'A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it,' he said in a statement. 'Let's be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel.' Defence Minister Israel Katz called it a 'disgrace' and a 'surrender to terror'. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Mr Macron's decision was a sign of 'moral collapse', not diplomacy. 'It rewards mass murder and tells Islamist terrorists: kill Jews, and the world will hand you a state,' Mr Bennett said, according to local Israeli news outlet Haaretz. 'This shameful decision will be tossed … into the dustbin of history.' Speaker of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, wrote on X that the French leader 'just awarded Hamas a prize for committing the October 7 massacre'. 'This shameful act is nothing less than a betrayal by one of the so-called 'leaders' of the free world,' he continued. 'It sends a chilling message: terrorism pays off. @EmmanualMacron will be remembered as a collaborator with evil – on the wrong side of history. 'I'm ashamed to have met this man. I love France. It deserves more courageous leadership.' Mr Macron's move was celebrated by Hamas, with the militant group hailing it as a 'positive step' and urging all countries to follow suit despite Israeli opposition. 'We consider this a positive step in the right direction toward doing justice to our oppressed Palestinian people and supporting their legitimate right to self-determination,' Hamas said in a statement. 'We call on all countries of the world – especially European nations and those that have not yet recognised the state of Palestine – to follow France's lead.' Senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh also welcomed the move, saying it 'reflects France's commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination and the establishment of our independent state'. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry similarly praised 'this historic decision'. Russia, China and India are among the 142 countries that now recognise or plan to recognise Palestinian statehood, according to an AFP tally, but France is the largest Western power – and only member of the G7 – to do so. Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday called for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying such a move could 'put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution which guarantees peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis'. In a statement, he said he would 'hold an emergency call with E3 partners (France and Germany) tomorrow, where we will discuss what we can do to stop the killing and get people the food they desperately need while pulling together all the steps necessary to build a lasting peace'. Among other countries that could also formally express recognition, Malta, Australia and Canada have raised the possibility.
AU Financial Review
2 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
France to recognise Palestine state. Is Australia about to follow?
Two weeks after the October 7, 2023 terror attacks on southern Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Jerusalem to meet Benjamin Netanyahu in a show of solidarity with the Jewish state. With French memories still raw over its own instances of jihadist massacres – think the Bataclan theatre or Charlie Hebdo shootings – Macron suggested to Netanyahu that the international coalition against Islamic terrorism be expanded to also target Hamas.
